Return of Dino Thunder
by angelgirlaly.95
Summary: Tommy Oliver discovers that the dino gems, having been all but destroyed five years ago in the fight against Mesagog, may have some new Power within them. Therefore, Tommy calls all four rangers to return once again to fight against the new threat against Earth. I do not own Power Rangers or the characters
1. Back to Action

June 9, 2009

Tommy Oliver, legendary power ranger and science teacher was sitting in his lab sorting through materials for his lecture that he would be teaching tomorrow morning. The lesson was on basic artifacts and what it would say about a civilization or event in the past. He gathered together shattered pots, cooking utensils and other items and placed them in a card board box. Suddenly he came across a small wooden box not from any time in the prehistoric days. He opened up the box to reveal five rocks. Tommy flashed back to a time 5 years ago when these gems held the power to transform him as well as Connor, Kira, Ethan and Trent into the Dino Thunder Power Rangers. Tommy smiled to himself thinking about how much each of the teenagers had grown since he met them. Taking the black gem in his hand, he thought he imagined it but Tommy could have sworn that he saw a bit of light enter the gem. There was no doubt about it. As he touched each of the five gems, they went from the dull color to a bit brighter. Rushing over to the computer, he took the gems and scanned them looking for the energy radiating through them. Whether it was good or bad, the Power was back.

Kira awoke to the vibrating of her phone. Groaning slightly, seeing that it was only just past five in the morning, Kira sat up and saw that there were ten missed calls, all of which were from Dr. O, otherwise known as Tommy Oliver, legendary Ranger.

Although it was not unusual to receive calls from Dr. O, as he was both a fantastic teacher and mentor to Kira in her senior year in high school, Kira was more than worried. Quickly, she pressed the "call back" button and waited for Tommy Oliver's voice.

"Dr. O, its Kira. What's up?" Kira felt like she was back in ranger mode, half expecting to hear news about a monster attack. Sadly she was not far off the mark.

"Kira, is there any way you can come back to Reef side. It is official Ranger business. I am sensing new power in our old Dino gems." Tommy seemed stressed. Kira felt sure that something was wrong in her old home town. After all why else would he be calling in the middle of the night (okay, early to mid-morning) talking about ranger business? Could it be Mesagog back from wherever evil monsters go when they are destroyed? Or possibly an even worse enemy? It had taken all four rangers full powers combined to destroy Mesagog in the first place, completely draining the Dino gems. How would they be able to fight any monster now?

Kira replied, "I'll be there in two hours. Did you get a hold of the others?" As Tommy was speaking, Kira was already up and moving. She got dressed in a pair of grey jeans and a long sleeved yellow top with brown leather patches on the elbow. Pulling her shoulder length reddish brown hair, which was now straight and layered into a pony tail leaving rock inspired jagged bangs, she packed a few extra outfits into a duffle bag. At this point in her life, Kira was a skilled packer. She was as they say, a starving artist. She got by, but Kira was nowhere near living in a penthouse in L.A. She had to schmooze and work hard for gigs and freelance song writing deals. Still she stuck with it, because it was her passion to use music to communicate to the world.

Dr. O broke into her thoughts and said, "I'm working on it, see you soon." The call ended and Kira carried her duffle bag, guitar case, and car keys out of the small apartment and down to her old yellow bug car. She started the car and pulled out onto the quiet street before maneuvering onto the busy highway leading her back to her past and to possible danger.

Connor McKnight flew the whistle to end soccer practice. He watched with tired pride as his elementary soccer team walked off the field to join their parents. _Fifteen minutes_ he thought. Fifteen minutes to sit and wind down and plan for his junior high team. That was a challenge. For the first half, the girls, having newly discovered boys, giggled. During the second half of practice the girls messed up easy plays, or tried to show off to the boy team that was getting ready for their time. _Next year,_ he thought _, I am going to have to switch the order of practice so the boys go first._ Connor walked over to his sports bag and pulled out his cell phone. 15 messages from Dr. O. Oh boy this can't be good. He dialed the number, known by heart, and when Dr. O greeted him, asked "What's the deal?"

Connor wasn't sure what was so important that it couldn't wait until this evening. Connor was the only ex-ranger to return to town after college. This was surprising for Connor. If someone had told him in High school that he would be back in town teaching kids soccer, Connor would have thought he was crazy. The truth was, though, that although the old Connor had cared about his pride as a soccer player and demanded to be the star of the game, Connor, largely as a result of his experiences as a power ranger learned that life was more than power or popularity. Perhaps it was not long after Connor became a ranger, that he discovered it. He fondly remembered how amazing he had seemed to the little girl he rescued from the monster, all by kicking a soccer ball around and showing her how to kick and pass. When Conner was deciding what kind of career he wanted, he remembered that little girl and wanted to feel that way all the time. Maybe he couldn't be a power ranger anymore, but he could be a hero to many kids by spending time with them and sharing a love of soccer.

Connor now coached soccer at Reef side schools and created summer programs for kids of all ages. If this was how it was for Dr. O to take on a group of teenagers, Connor could see how Dr. O was both so proud, yet so exhausted. But then, anything that takes passion is difficult.

Dr. O chuckled, although it sounded strained, and replied, "I'm glad you called. I have been continuing to monitor frequencies of the Dino power and other alien powers. After viewing the morpher grid and observing the different gems for changes and variants. I calculated- "

Connor interrupted the science teacher mid lecture, "Dr. O, remember who you are talking to. I am not Ethen or Hayley. I don't speak nerd." Maybe things hadn't changed as much as Conner might have led you to believe.

"There is a possibility that our Dino Gems may be regaining some of its power," Dr. O stated blandly. Here he paused to let it sink in.

Impulsively, potentially reverting back to the high school senior power ranger, Connor burst out, "Dude, no way!" Realizing that some of the junior high girls were starting to show up, Connor quieted his excitement. "Do you think we be able to, you know, morph again?"

Instead of being excited like Connor, Dr. O seemed worried. "I don't know, Connor, but there is one thing I do know. The Power doesn't awaken for no reason. I don't know what is happening, but I think we need to have a discussion about the possibility of a new threat in Reef side."

Connor sighed realizing that the life he had known for the past 5 years could be over. Being a Power Ranger had been the best thing in Connor's life. HE would never trade the things he did to help the people of Reef side, but Connor had also grown to appreciate not being interrupted randomly for a monster attack. Breaking the silence, Connor said, "Dr. O can this wait? I am about to start practice?"

Connor feared that he would get lectured as he had many times before for putting other things instead of being a Ranger, so he was surprised when Dr. O replied, "Sure, can you be here for supper tonight to talk?" Connor had already planned on being there. Dr. O and Connor had taken to eating many of their meals together since Hayley took pity on the two bachelors and usually either cooked or sent over dinner for the men. However, Connor was blown away when Dr. O declared that he was getting a hold of the rest of the Dino Thunder Rangers to join them.

Trent looked up from the comic he was struggling over. Trent still enjoyed his art. He better after spending four years in the School of Arts. Trent's pictures were better than ever. He learned to draw something other than superheroes and learned the business of both graphic design and art. The problem was the plot. It seemed like it would be easy to come up with a decent plot after all of his experiences as a hero (and villain), but that was the problem. Everything he experienced was real. The real danger, the real impact, the real power. Everything that came out of his head seemed phony in comparison. Creating a comic about the Power Rangers was obviously out of the question with all of the personal details that could expose him or his friends.

His friends. Trent tried to think of the last time he had been with all four of his fellow rangers. Was it the one year high school reunion? He used to see Kira a lot, she had gone to the same school with am music major, and even started dating for a while, but it was the wrong time for them. Maybe in another life. Connor was busy with his kids in soccer, and who knows what Ethen was up to.

As for Trent, after school, Trent was struggling to break into the graphic novel industry, so his Father created a position for him in the meantime. At first Trent dreaded it, both because he anticipated that it would be a bad fit and because of what people would think about Daddy buying Trent a company, or some nonsense. However, Anton Mercer had really grown and listened to Trent and what he wanted. Trent was designing the advertising for some of Mercer Industry's smaller companies. This got his art out in the real world while teaching him about what the world wanted from him. Anton also understood Trent's desire to earn his position, so he assigned Trent small pieces at first and slowly challenged him with difficult companies and marketing campaigns.

Trent looked at the clock, he had been working for two hours with no good material to show for it. He stood up and stretched out the achy muscles. Trent started thinking about a good run to get ideas flowing and the muscles happy again. He did miss the training that went along with being a power ranger. Now, especially in his line of work, he didn't have to be active, so he had to make special efforts to keep fit. He looked down at his phone and was surprised to see several messages from Dr. O. Immediately, he tried to call back, but met a busy signal. _Hmm, what could be so important? No, Ranger stuff?_ If it was ranger related, then he had to get a hold of Dr. O immediately. But perhaps, maybe one of his former teammates knew what was going on, but who would Trent call? Conner had switched numbers about six months ago, but neglected to give Trent the new number. Ethan usually stressed to people not to call him because he was too busy with his NASA job (probably more to do with gaming, but whatever). Kira… Trent remembered the last time he had seen Kira up close and personal. It had been sophomore year of college, and Trent and Kira were trying to make their relationship work. However the schedules never seemed to work together. When Trent was available, Kira had rehearsals. When Kira was available, Trent had team meetings or assignments due. The longer it went on, the easier it became not to see each other. One day, after struggling to find a time to be together, they had promised to try again next week. Next week apparently never came. There was never an official break up. That almost made it harder. No, that definitely made it harder. Mentally preparing for the awkwardness coming, Trent pressed "call."

After a few rings, Kira answered. "Trent?" Kira asked. She was obviously surprised by his call, and why not. It had been three years since they had talked. Trent's stomach twisted hearing her soft voice, almost like a purr of a cat.

"Yeah, it's me," Trent answered. Rather than start an endless stream of awkward small talk, Trent got right to the point. "Have you heard from Dr. O lately?"

"Yea," Kira replied. "Apparently there is some ranger stuff going on. He needs all of us there ASAP. That's all I know. I am on my way now. Are you going to come?" Was that hope or dread in her voice? Maybe Trent didn't even want to know.

"Definitely, Dr. O wouldn't call us there if it weren't important. I just have to call my dad to borrow a car. My car is in the shop." _Wait, I hope that wasn't a hint for her to come get me!_

"Um, you still live in Bakersville, right? I go right past there, if you, you know, want a ride?" She said that as though it were a question, and in many ways it was. Trent had no idea what Kira was up to. Did she have a boyfriend, or kids? Trent knew that she was still in music, since he had come to some of her gigs, (she had no idea of course) and he heard some of her songs she had written. Beyond that, no information.

Trent hesitated. He knew that once he got into the car it would be an hour of awkward silence, yet the chance to see Kira again was tempting. "Ok" _No_ "That sounds good to me" _Fun like a tooth ache! "_ Do you need my address" _Don't do it!_ The mental battle made Trent exhausted.

Ethan held his breath as he came across the final battle boss in the new video game he bought. _Left, Right, Left, Left, SHOOT!_ Unfortunately for Ethan it was his player that exploded. Leaning back in his chair, Ethan fumed. He might be an employee for NASA, but he still loved his video games. It was probably a remnant from his past as a Power Ranger. He loved the adrenaline that came with saving a victim or beating the bad guy. With a pang of regret, Ethan remembered for the hundredth time, that he would probably not experience that for real again.

Ethan prepared to get back to work with computer security. Suddenly a new window popped up on Ethan's screen and Tommy Oliver's face appeared.

"Woah, Dr. O! What's going on?" Ethan looked around wildly, making sure his boss was not around, apparently not caring that moments ago he was playing a video game on the job. "Uh, Dr. O, not that I don't like seeing your face on my screen, but can you give a guy a little warning?"

Dr. O frowned, clearly not amused at the welcome he had received. "Well," Dr. O said, "life often happens without warning. This is one of those times."

"Sorry, Dr. O, what can I do for you?" Ethan apologized. Dr. O must have been under a great deal of stress. Normally, the black ranger would have laughed it off or replied with a witty comment.

"Ethan, I can't tell you what is going on at this moment. You never know who might be listening. Can you come to my house tonight? I assure you, it is urgent-," Dr. O dropped his voice to a whisper, "ranger business"

Hearing the words "ranger business," Ethan's heart leaped in his chest. "What!" Ethan exclaimed loudly, "I'm going to be a Power Ranger again?" It seemed almost too good to me true.

"Ethan, Tommy warned, "I never said that. I am still not completely sure what is going on, and please be discreet. You know how dangerous it is to talk about this where others may hear." Ethan thought about when Cassidy and Devin had filmed the five rangers morphing during the last battle. Thankfully Cassidy did not say a word to anyone, but it did hit home the point about how risky this business was.

Just then, Ethan considered a point he hadn't thought of. Ethan lived about three hours away from Reef Side. How was he supposed to leave work in the middle of the day possibly for weeks or months depending on what Dr. O had to tell him? Nevertheless, Ethan eagerly said, "I will be there."

Now, driven by the power of the gems, former rangers came back to where their story had begun and there from the dull gems of the past will emerge renewed set of Power Rangers.


	2. A Dino Misunderstanding

Thank you for your kind support of this story. As always, I do not own Power Rangers or any of the Characters.

Ch. 2: A Dino Misunderstanding

Kira looked at the address that Trent apparently lived in. She already regretted offering to pick Trent up. Kira could just taste the coming awkwardness, but what else was there to do. Kira wasn't going to be able to avoid Trent forever, especially since he was invited to the Ranger meeting. Maybe it was better that they got the awkward meeting over with. Beneath the anxiety, Kira really did want to see Trent. After the relationship ended, rather evaporated, Kira never really healed. She just numbed herself to the feeling of longing. She tried to follow Trent's major accomplishments, often looking at the graphic novel publishing lists, waiting for him to come out with a novel of his own as was his dream. So far, he was featured as illustrator, but not as an author of his own story. Kira remembered days of Trent thinking about different stories he could write and draw, and sharing the ideas with Kira, but that was when they were couple.

Kira pulled up to a large townhouse and let out a low whistle. Kira could probably fit three or four of her apartments into Trent's place. Kira wasn't sure what to do now. Should she walk up to the front door? No that was too much like a date, and definitely a role reversal. It seemed rude to beep her horn. She would probably get the cops called on her if she did that in this type of neighborhood. She pulled out her phone to call and let him know she was there for him when Trent opened up the front door carrying a book bag and key. Locking the door securely, he walked over to the old beat up car and came in.

Already, Kira felt overwhelmed by Trent's presence. All of the words, said and unsaid were hanging over them. Silently she pulled out of the drive way and started driving. A few minutes passed. Kira kept glancing over at Trent silently. The more time that went on, the more odd it seemed to have someone start talking. Kira turned the radio on. Everything was going awkwardly well (whatever that means) until the song "Give Him My Love" by Kira Ford came on. Kira tried to shut the radio off quickly but with his ranger quick reaction time, Trent blocked her hand, holding his hand over hers.

"No," he protested, "I want to hear it." Kira blushed as they listened to a recording of Kira singing about love lost and regrets. Kira slowly grew redder and redder as a blush emerged across her cheeks. Kira thought about how she had felt when she wrote it. At that time, she was going through the slow but gradual separation from Trent and was feeling very alone. She was addressing the fear that she was losing him to a new life. Apparently, that fear was justified. She felt like Trent was reading her diary. It was one thing for strangers to hear it, because they put themselves into the situation and forgot about the original writer. But for Trent, surely he must know that the song is about him and their relationship.

As the radio Kira sang the last refrain of the song, Trent turned the radio down a little bit. _Uh oh, must be time to talk_. "You know, Kira," Trent began, "I have always been amazed at your musical skills. I think that is one of my favorites of your music." He said this casually, but Kira recognized the importance of what he said. If he had a favorite, Trent must have listened to her music. Did he still care, or was it in a friendly former power ranger kind of way. "Kira kept her eyes steadily on the road now, refusing to look at Trent. "I miss how close we used to be." Kira could feel Trent's eyes burning into the side of her head. "You know, you were about the first person I showed my art. Man that was back when all I could draw was superheroes." Trent rambled on about how great their relationship used to be.

"Trent, No," Kira begged. She went through enough pain when her relationship with Trend fizzled out. There was never any official end, so for months, Kira half expected Trent to call or show up again. Day after day, she was disappointed with no emails, calls, or visits. Finally, Kira buried her feelings for Trent away. The only remnant she kept was a necklace Trent had given her for Christmas. It was white gold with a yellow sapphire. She wore it all the time. Kira knew she wasn't over Trent, but she was not willing to open herself up for the same hurt once more.

"Trent, don't feel like you have to say these things. It's ok that we didn't work out. It was great while it lasted, but some things aren't meant to last forever." Kira lied through her teeth as she pulled onto a wooded road leading to Dr. O's house. The way to the house was as clear as it had been five years ago.

Trent gaped open-mouthed at Kira. "Kira, that's not what I was trying to do. I would never say anything I didn't mean. Please-"

Kira abruptly interrupted, "Don't Trent. It's not even worth it. Anyway, we're here." Kira had hurriedly put the car into park, turned off the ignition, and practically fled the car. She grabbed her duffle out o the trunk and was half way to the house before Trent was even out of the car.

Tommy heard the yellow and white rangers before he saw them. He heard door slamming and Trent calling out, Kira, we have to talk about this!" Tommy opened the door to see Kira in her signature yellow. Her face, however, was red. Tommy quickly read a variety of expressions including anger, confusion, and most importantly, hurt. Tears threatened to start falling. A protective instinct rose up in Tommy as he opened his arm to Kira for a hug. She fell into his arms.

"Go on in, I'll meet you in the lair," Tommy whispered. Nodding, Kira dropped her bag in the entryway and found her way down to the lair that looked both futuristic and prehistoric all at the same time. Once Kira was out of sight and out of hearing distance, Tommy looked at Trent who was now walking up on the porch. Tommy came outside and shut the door.

"Do I want to know what happened?" Tommy demanded. Tommy didn't know all the details of Trent and Kira's relationship, but he knew that they grew apart sometime during college. Tommy followed Kira's musical career, so he had suspicions about when the relationship started to go sour. He and Kira talked, but Kira was very private about her relationships, for which Tommy was grateful. However, it was clear that Trent somehow upset Kira today.

Trent shuffled a bit and looked sheepish. "I wish I knew what happened. We were just talking and she got defensive. I was trying to fix things."

Dr. O shook his head. These two were worse than teenagers. Tommy was eternally grateful that none of the rangers dated each other while active. That hardly ever worked out well. With a pang, the name _Kimberly_ appeared in is head. "Look, I see things are more complicated than they appear. However, you need to listen to me now. You may have been the evil white ranger, but if Kira gets hurt, you will see the original evil green ranger in action." Without another word, Tommy Oliver walked into the house.

"What about the evil green ranger?" Conner McKnight red dino thunder ranger had appeared on the first steps.

Trent tried to look nonchalant. "Oh nothing. Dr. O was just telling me a story about when he was on the Mighty Morphin Power ranger group.

Authors note: This chapter is a bit short, but this seemed like a better stopping place than where I originally planned to stop for now.

Please rate and review. I hope you like it.


	3. A Ranger Reunion

Hello readers, I am excited to update this chapter. It is definitely longer than last chapter and all about how and why the rangers are back in the seats.

As usual, I do not own power rangers. I am merely using the characters and plots Saban has given us and putting my own twist on them.

Ch. 3 A family Reunion:

Oblivious to what had just transpired between Trent, Dr. O, and Kira, Conner clapped Trent on the shoulder. The years had been kind to Conner. Trent could feel how strong Conner was. Conner wore a grey warm up suit with a red stripe down the sides, covering a red athletic t shirt. Trent looked around for a vehicle, but found only a dark red mountain bike.

"How's it hanging?" Conner asked with a broad grin. Conner seemed to grow not only physically, but also seemed more humble and grounded.

Trent forced his face back into a neutral or even happy expression. "Awesome, what are you up to? I'm still waiting to hear about you in the world cup."

With a deep chuckle, Conner swiped away his dark brown bangs from his forehead. "Nah," Conner replied, "I'm concentrating on my soccer camps. It has been amazing working with kids to help them to love life and learn how to get through it, all through the game of soccer. Maybe someday, though." Trent followed Conner, who stopped in the fridge to take a swig of milk from the carton. Some things apparently haven't changed. Conner still seemed perfectly at home wherever he was. The two rangers walked down the steps into Dr. O's lab. Dr. O was wearing a black t shirt with jeans. He sat at a large desk with a computer screen. Hearing footsteps, Tommy turned to greet Conner and Trent. Dr. O didn't seem as scary as he had a few minutes ago, but Trent well remembered the threat.

Tommy asked Conner, "How did you get a break so early? I thought you had practices all day."

"I did, but apparently they are galling for severe storms so I cancelled the rest of practices." Conner only looked somewhat disappointed. Clearly the excitement was mounting. "By the way, where's Hayley?"

"She is working on opening her new rec center," Tommy replied. "It's set to open up in a month and she's still trying to get some volunteers for classes and activities."

Conner nodded. "Well, she knows that I will coach a soccer team once school gets out next week." Tommy nodded, happy to see how much Conner has grown.

"Dr. O, "Trent Began, "I only heard part of your message this morning. What is going on?"

"Well, Trent, I want to wait for Ethan to get here before I tell you everything, but I believe that the Power is returning to our dino gems," Dr. O said.

"But I thought we had exhausted all of the energy from them when we defeated Mesagog," Exclaimed Trent. He was amazed. "Is it even possible for something like that to happen?

"Yes it is." Everyone turn to see that it was Kira who spoke. She was walking down the steps, looking almost recovered from the earlier emotional incident. Her eyes were still red rimmed, but Conner might reason that it was driving. Only Trent and Dr. O knew the truth. Kira continued, "I know, because my gem has been reactivated before."

Trent and Conner showed great surprise. Apparently Kira hadn't told them. That told Tommy that Kira and Trent had to have split up before 2007.

"What, I wasn't invited." As Conner said this, he looked rather like a young child deprived of a toy.

Kira grinned and bantered back, "Maybe they weren't looking for conceited soccer heads."

Conner playfully grabbed at the area by his heart as though he'd been shot. "Kira, you wound me! And here I thought I meant something to you. Do your fans know what a sharp tongue you have?" he continued to joke.

"No, but they also haven't heard my Ptera Scream," Kira reminded. Conner rubbed his ears just remembering the dreadful sound. Tommy chuckled as he watched the interaction. Conner and Kira were much like a brother and sister in their teasing manner, although relationships could change in an instant from being siblings to something else. That's how it was with Power Rangers. Teammates became family. It was a convoluted family, but one full of love. Tommy thought of his 'bro' Jason. Although the two boys were initially bitter rivals, Jason and Tommy were soon as close knit as brothers.

Teammates also became romantic partners. Tommy thought of achingly of Kimberly who had broken is heart many years ago and also of Trent and Kira, two romances that had ended before they could really begin. Actually those two romances were so similar. Both Kimberly and Kira were the people who helped bring Tommy and Trent respectively out of the evil influence. However not every romance ended badly. He thought of Jason and Kat who were now married with a child. Power Rangers made a good match for each other because both husband and wife know how the other is feeling and the demons in the past. Tommy remembered all of the people who have lost their lives throughout his years as rangers. Some of these were as a result of monsters when the Power rangers were helpless to do anything, but Tommy still carried the burdens from the destruction he personally created.

Foot steps distracted Tommy from his thoughts. Ethan James walked down the steps. "What's up Rangers?" he asked. Ethan looked like he had come straight from work, wearing a navy blue suit with a white shirt underneath.

"Kira was just telling us about her experience with Operation Overdrive," Tommy replied, waving Ethan over to an empty chair.

Kira looked mildly surprised, "Did you know about it?" she asked.

"Adam was one of my old team mates and was also included. He said that you handled yourself quite nicely," Tommy left out the rest of what Adam had said. _Kira was an awesome fighter, despite the fact that you trained her._

Kira blushed at the compliment while Tommy continued, "My readings also tell me that all of us have also been reenergized before, or rather will be."

"Come again?" Conner asked clearly continued.

Tommy glanced at the computer screen before replying. "I don't know many details, but around the time of your one year high school reunion, we were called to help a set of future rangers. Evidently our memories have been wiped." Out of the corner of his eye, Tommy saw Ethan pump his fist in the air.

Conner stopped Tommy, "How exactly do the gems get reenergized?"

"In many cases, this sort of thing happens from channeling ones power into the desired container, much like Kira and Ethan used to do to help charge up the shield of victory. It used to happen to me after I was no longer the evil green ranger. Rita stole most of my power using a green candle. For a while, Zordon would feed me extra power to my power coin so I could continue to morph. eventually he could no longer do so without harming himself or me so he made me into the White Ranger." Tommy stopped to let the new information sink in.

Trent asked, "Is that what is happening?"

Tommy answered, "Maybe, but I think it is unlikely. It would take an immense amount of energy to recharge five Dino Gems from empty. Not only that, but that person or thing would have had to direct access to the Dino Gems. With the exception of Kira's when she was with Operation Overdrive, these gems have not been out of the lab. Nobody with that kind of power has been here. No, I think it is more probable that there is or will be a new threat coming to Reef Side, and the Power is preparing for it."

Ethan eagerly guessed, "So we're going to be Power Rangers again!?"

Tommy didn't want to disappoint Ethan but had to say, "I didn't say that. There is a possibility that we may be chosen again for this role, but it is not definite. Even if we are chosen, we may have changed colors. We are chosen for our characteristics. Conner, you were originally chosen for your leadership and bravery. Kira, for your compassion and loyalty. Ethan for your intellect and wisdom. This does not mean you were perfect. In fact, I am sure that you could make lists of things that you did and still struggle with. The power might have selected others with these qualities, but we are going to find out now."

Ethan's palms began to sweat. He began to doubt himself and everything that he has accomplished. Sure, he was smart, but every single person in his workplace was smart, and they weren't all power rangers.

"So, how do we find out if we are chosen?" Kira asked. She felt nervous simply because she did not know the future, but she also felt invigorated. She well remembered the joy of being able to help protect others from monsters.

Tommy replied, "We find out by being in contact with the gems. As we hold them and interact, the gems will analyze us and see if we are worthy to be bonded to again."

Conner eagerly reached out for his gem. Unlike his first occurrence with the dino gem, Conner had no hesitation in his desire to help. If some alien creep was going to threaten his town and his kids, he wanted to be on the front lines.

"Will we know automatically?" Trent asked. He too was ready to fight again. He had caused too much damage the first time around. At that, Trent started to consider that he wasn't good enough or changed enough. Still, if he could fight and make up for what he did, he would.

"Maybe," said Tommy. "I think it shouldn't take too long to find out I we are still worthy." He looked around. "Everyone ready?" Tommy reached out and grabbed the faintly glowing black Dino Gem. Conner immediately followed suit along with Kira, Trent, and Ethan.

For a moment, nothing happened. The former rangers glanced at each other. Everyone waited and feared the worst.

All at once, the rangers heard the sound of pounding rain. Although Conner mentioned that the weather channel had reported it, something seemed off. Tommy Oliver, still clutching his Dino Gem, pushed a button that released a split screen. One half of the screen showed the area outside of the Oliver Residence and the other half showed the local new station. Both screens held disgusting images. The former rangers saw heavy acidic rain falling in splotches down on the ground. As the drops hit the earth or trees, a little bit of anything natural burned away. On the screen with the local news, Cassidy Cornell stood huddled under a small bus station area calling out to viewers with warnings to stay inside. She yelled for the camera man, possibly Devon, to come in and keep rolling.

Conner couldn't stand to wait around. People were getting hurt and he wasn't going to stand by, powers or no powers. "We have to do something," He shouted. "Let's go!" Tommy, Kira, and Trent all nodded and followed Conner out of the back entrance of the lair and headed to the drive way.

"My Car!" Shouted Kira. Clunky or not, at least Kira's car had a roof on it for protection as opposed to Dr. O's jeep. Turning on the ignition, Kira drove, probably too fast for the speed limit. Purple splotches landed on the windshield blocking Kira's view. She turned the windshield wiper on full speed.

As Kira drove, Ethan looked at the destruction around them and marveled that they were safe. "Hey everyone," Ethan started. Everyone except Kira stopped and looked at him. "Don't you think it's weird that the trees and plants are being hurt, but not the buildings and cars? Maybe the rain only affects things from nature."

"And how exactly does that help us?" Conner sounded very irritated. Why was Kira driving so slowly? What he wouldn't give for his old raptor cycle or his super speed.

Dr. O considered before replying. "It tells us how we can help the citizens of Reefside. When we are evacuating, we know that it is safer to hide in a building rather than a wooden shack or under a tree. Good thinking, Ethan. I wish I would have thought to bring a flask to collect a sample of the rain."

From the driver's seat, Kira asked, "I have an empty metal water bottle. Would that help?" She reached down and grabbed a yellow metal water bottle. Dr. O took it gratefully.

"Thanks," Dr. O said. "Later, I can study the rain and see where our new friends come from."

"Dr. O," Trent began, "What happens if we aren't the Power Rangers this time? How do we just step back while people get hurt?"

Dr. O smiled. He was glad that these young adults cared so much about others. "We don't," he answered. "IF the Power does not choose us, we work until we do find the new Power Rangers. Then we support them in any way possible until they don't need us. We also never turn our backs on someone who needs help. We don't need super powers to be helpful. Have I ever told you about the time I met Adam, Rocky, and Aisha?

The story was cut short by Kira who said, "Are you ready?"

Without another word, the group got out of the car. They had just entered downtown Reefside. Most of the citizens had escaped but they spotted a small group of children struggling to get out of the rain. They let out little screams as rain drops hit them. Conner and Ethan sprang forward to help them. Trent, Kira, and Dr. O stayed back to survey the scene for a safe place. The area seemed fairly open. There was a wooden playset and a picnic shelter. Those were both not good option. They kept scanning until Kira spotted a metal tool shed.

Barely acknowledging the pain, she shouted, "There," Trent went there first, wrenched open the door and started pulling out rakes and ladders to make space for the kids.

"Over here," Trent shouted to Conner and Ethan who now had a group of ten children assembled. Ethan took the lead bringing the children towards the shed while Conner looked for stragglers and helped the smaller children. When at last the final child was inside, Conner reassured them before closing the door securely.

Conner turned away from the door and asked, "Now what do we do? Before anyone could answer, the purple rain that had fallen to the ground pooled together to form figures similar to the Tyrannodrones from earlier days. These were different though. These figures were a sickly pale purple and seemed to ooze as they walked towards the former rangers. All five former rangers assumed a fighting position.

"Does this answer your question?" Ethan asked. He released a punch to one monster while springing into a kick for an approaching monster coming from the side.

Kira let out a flurry of punches then did a cartwheel over to where the garden tools had been thrown. She grabbed a long spade. "Man," she shouted, "I thought this part of my life was dead and buried."

Grinning, Tommy replied, "Well, I guess it's time to dig up the past," as he aimed a swift and powerful round house kick the Chuck Norris would have been proud of to the Monster's head.

Conner grabbed a rake and used it as a staff, swinging it in fast circles to beat off his foes. He did a flip ending with both feet planted on the monster's chest, knocking it backwards.

Things started turning for the worse, however as a monster caught Kira's spade mid swing. It swung her around several times before releasing her to all backwards onto Conner. Distracted, Ethan felt a monster grab his foot and was shoved backwards. Trent had landed several punches but was facing three monsters at one time. Tommy, running towards the others was tripped.

The rangers were all in one cluster as they realized how outnumbered they were at the moment. This did not stop them, but rather enflamed their determination. At that moment, a bright glow emitted from Conner's pocket, followed by Dr. O, Kira, Trent, and Ethan. They reached in and pulled out their dino gems. They had been chosen once again.

The rangers did not stop to celebrate but went back to work, utilizing the powers as though it was five years ago. Kira let out her Ptera scream, sending the surrounding monsters to agony. Ethan's skin hardened into reptilian scales as he released a grand melee of punches, kicks and jumps that left the purple monsters groaning on the ground. Trent's skin glowed white with heat and all of the monsters that touched him recoiled in pain as if they had burnt. Dr. O turned invisible and the other rangers could only see that several monsters were falling to the floor. Conner was using his super speed to round up the last of the monsters until all of them were apprehended. As the last monster was crawling away defeated, the power rangers starting giving each other high fives. They had won the fight.

Suddenly a strong deep voice filled the air like thunder. "This war has only begun Power Rangers! Blekkies, return at once!" The voice commanded. The purple monsters disappeared instantly along with most of the purple rain. There was just enough for Tommy to take a small sample in the metal bottle.

Dr. O straightened up and said, "I know you have a lot of questions about how this is going to work, but it is going to have to wait until we get these kids home and get back to the lab."

Dr. O sat back in his desk chair that surrounded thousands of dollars of computer equipment. Grinning, he asked, "So, ow do you feel? "He was excited that he was not the only veteran ranger. Since the group had graduated, the relationships between them and Dr. O had changed from mentor to friend or comrade. They were on an almost equal playing field.

Ethan leaned on a pillar as he groaned, "Sore." He was gently massaging his side, where he remembered getting kicked as well as having a hard crash landing.

Conner smirked and Tommy could see just a bit of the old superior Conner, but Tommy saw the kinder shine in his eye that showed that the coming comments were intended in jest. "It appears that someone has spent too long sitting behind a desk."

"Well hotshot, what about you," Ethan demanded.

Conner stopped and seriously considered the questioned. "Honestly," Conner finally answered, "overwhelmed. I know that we've already saved the world once, but it has really just hit me what is at stake if we fail. Just think of those kids in town. They could have been seriously hurt if not killed by the rain and the Blekkies. This isn't just a teenager's adventurous dream. This is a battle of good against evil." The younger rangers were slightly shocked at the vulnerability in Conner's answer. Dr. O was proud of the leader that Conner had become. HE thought of the conversation that he had had with Conner years ago when Conner struggled to find passion. "Passion doesn't just happen, it grows." Clearly, Conner did a lot of growing in the past few years.

"Wow Conner. I agree," Kira started. Conner blushed a little at the compliment. "This is a serious thing. However," Kira paused smiling, "I am excited to be one of the people to help the city." She looked over at Tommy. "Does that excitement ever go away?"

Tommy chuckled and shook his head. "It hasn't for me, and I'm the one with tenure."

Trent laughed and joked, "You know, I can picture you with a walker years from now and you will still be wearing a spandex suit."

"Hey, it's a good look for me," Tommy defended. He reached down and pulled up a metal briefcase. "In honor of the occasion, I vote that we celebrate with some jewelry."

Conner smirked, "Do you miss your earrings, Dr. O?"

Kira held her breath as Tommy opened the briefcase to reveal five Dino Thunder Ranger communicators. Each ranger took one and placed is or her Dino Gem into its spot.

Tommy started the familiar chant, "Once a ranger,"

"Always a ranger!" the others replied in unison. The Power Rangers were back.

Author's note. This was a really fun chapter to write and so is the next one. I am planning on introducing the true villains of the plot as well as someone from the past. One note about the ranger's special skills. Trent was never really given a special skill in the show, so I made up my own for him. Any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to let me know.


	4. Old Friends and New Enemies

Hey all, I am introducing some old friends in the chapter any guesses?

As usual I own none of the Power Ranger franchise. I merely borrow the use of the characters and universe to imagine new stories. This chapter I borrowed heavily from seasons 2 and 3 of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and some from Zeo.

Old Friends and New Enemies

Everything in Reefside was quiet. However this was the case on a faraway planet. Lightning struck behind a dark castle. Two aliens were having an argument.

"May I ask why we have not made a move in two weeks?" The female alien shrieked. Both aliens' skin resembled black vein like cords. The bodies themselves looked human though they were far stronger and more resilient than human skin. On the female alien, the same cords also flowed down her back as hair. Bright red eyes without pupils shone out of their eye sockets. The female wore a sickly pale green gown with a large mantle across her shoulders. The green of the dress matched the pale lips. Bare feet poked out from under the gown. On her planet, she was considered very beautiful. In fact she was the princess of the planet.

Patiently, the male alien replied, "For the hundredth time today, Trixie, I am waiting for the enemy to let down their guard. Let them think they won and go back to their normal lives. In time they will forget about us, think we have run away. Then we will swoop in and the world will be ours for the taking."

"But look at them training!" Trixie shouted. The two aliens were standing at a balcony overlooking a large viewing globe. Even now, they could see five demorphed rangers sparring vigorously. "Domino!" She screamed.

The male alien, dubbed Domino cringed at the high pitch. Domino was Trixie's twin brother and was in line for the throne. He had short black cord hair and had strong muscles. He wore a darker shade of green garment twisted like a kilt. "Patience!" Domino shouted in a thunder like voice. "Before the day is through, I will send a general down to destroy those blasted Power Rangers!"

The power rangers were sweating. Dr. O and Conner had just led the other rangers on an intense obstacle course. They were forced to run, climb and fight through the heat of an early summer California day.

Kira thought this was the type of day to hang out at a beach not to kill themselves with drills that usually ended with electric barbed wire fences they had to crawl through. She tenderly felt a sizzled bit of hair that had caught the bottom of the fence before she could wrench her ponytail out of the way. As she ran away from the fence, her fingers had flown to braid her hair into a tight plait that would hopefully be better for this type of exertion.

Conner and Dr. O were at the lead. Though sweat beaded at their forehead and their thin shirts seemed to be damp from sweat, they seemed fairly comfortable with this torture. Apparently this was fun for them. Kira was next. Although she didn't like this exertion, she did have regular exercise through running and kickboxing as well as yoga and Pilates. She had even done some Zumba classes and became a certified teacher. Trent was following behind closely. He had a regimen of jogging daily with martial arts practice.

Ethan was at the back of the pack. As much as hated to admit it, Ethan had spent too much time behind a desk. He wasn't necessarily struggling, but he was reaching his limit. HE was certainly nowhere near the caliber of Conner and Dr. O. Ethan could see why Dr. O had been a Power Ranger for so long. Dr. O was a beast. Ethan looked up from underneath the barbed wire that he was supposed to be crawling through and saw that Kira and Trent had just joined Dr. O and Conner at the end. They were sitting down in a shady grassy area gulping down Gatorade. Ethan completed the last leg of the course and dropped down on the ground moaning in agony. "How did we ever do this as teenagers?" He whimpered. After a moment, he sat up and took the offered drink from Kira.

Dr. O admitted, "This may be a bit more intense than your training as teenagers. You simply didn't have the time for a three hour training session between school, homework, and your personal lives. Not only that, but your bodies need more training now that your past your prime." He ended this statement with a smirk. Kira was too tired to do much more than roll her eyes at the older man.

Conner on the other hand had a twinkling glint in his eye as he taunted the mentor. "Oh yeah! Well, Dr. O, if we are past our prime, what does that make you, Grandpa?"

Dr. O jumped up and challenged Conner, "Well, this 'Grandpa' still has some fight in him if you think you can handle it!" Dr. O got into a sparring stance.

"Gee, are you sure you don't need a walker, maybe an electric wheel chair?" Conner taunted. He matched Dr. O's stance. Seemingly effortlessly, Dr. O and Conner started fighting as if they hadn't just completed a three hour workout.

As they watched, Trent leaned over and whispered to Kira, "You know, we probably ought to stop this before Conner gets hurt." Although the red ranger was holding his own using his super speed to attempt to get the advantage, but it was clear that experience trumped youth. Dr. O avoided more attacks and found Conner's weak spots and exploited them. Soon after, the sparring match degenerated into a rough super powered game of tag. Conner used his super speed to evade Dr. O but the invisible Dr. O usually was able to sneak up behind Conner to catch him.

Shaking her head, Kira called out, "Boys! It's time to go!" At this point, Conner seemed to be struggling awkwardly in a hunched position. Kira was confused until Dr. O reappeared to reveal that he had been holding Conner in a headlock. "Come on," shouted Kira. "Hayley is waiting for us over at her new rec center!" Finally to two 'boys' came over.

"But Kira," Conner whined. "I was just about to beat Dr. O." Kira let out a giggle but did not say a word about the unlikelihood of that event.

Trent joined in, "Conner, are you hungry? Hayley said she was going to have breakfast ready for us when we got there."

Conner grinned, "Ok, last one there washes the dishes!" Immediately Conner dashed off in the direction of Hayley's new recreation center, completely ignoring Dr. O's jeep.

Dr. O put on his glasses and grabbed his car keys. "We'd better go before Conner eats all of the food."

Ethan laughed, "Hayley wouldn't let that happen. It wouldn't be the first time that she hit him in the head with a wooden spoon." Hayley was well aware of Conner's healthy appetite. She didn't need any super powers when she had a spoon or frying pan. Nevertheless, the remaining rangers hurried into the black jeep and drove off.

"So Hayley, how did you decide to open up a new place?" Trent asked. All five rangers were sitting at a counter sipping smoothies. Hayley was behind the counter washing out the blender.

Hayley stopped and replied, "Well, already had a large group of kids that enjoyed hanging around cyberspace, but I realized that I was missing the kids who aren't into videogames and things like that. Conner, you had never even heard of my place until Ethan got you to come. I was missing the people who liked to exercise and do sports. Obviously I needed more space to accommodate that kind of thing, so I dipped into my savings and purchased new land and started building." She waved a soapy hand pointing out the space around them. The new rec center was located at the outskirts of downtown Reefside, where it was able to be seen, but there was more space.

Tommy looked around. It reminded him of Angel Grove's youth center except that it was much more modern. There were at least four major visible areas. He knew from other conversations that there was also a locker room and storage area. In the center of the facility was the café area that held tables and chairs surrounding a counter much like at the Cyberspace. To one side was a stage for performers. Down a few steps, there was the workout area. In the center of the floor there was a large mat, assumedly for fitness classes. Lining the three other walls around the mat was a variety of high quality exercise machines. As much as the rangers liked it, they could already feel the hours they would probably spend here for training. There were two wings off of the café area. To the left, was the cyber in cybercafé. There were several computers for teens who wanted to research or game as well as some study tables. In the one back corner, there was a platform with a larger desk and higher tech computer.

Hayley referred to the room with technology and said, "Ethan, I thought you might like to organize that room. It's for the people who either want to play games or just study without listening to people working out or gossiping. Of course, you'll have to have to have policies for the gamers about their volume and we can even have contests, but we can discuss that later. I also put in a special area for you. I know you are still working for NASA and need a work station.

Ethan nodded his head until he resembled a bobble head and exclaimed, "Dude, this is sweet!" Automatically he went over to the advanced computer and started investigating.

Hayley smiled and pointed off to the right. IT was identical in size to the gaming room, but it was geared towards music lovers and makers. There were a few stands and chairs. Lining the wall was Kira's dream come true. Musical instruments, mostly guitars were leaning on their stands. Kira looked to the one corner and saw a large black piano.

"Kira, this is your domain. Both the music store and Anton Mercer industries generously helped make this possible. We already have kids signed up for lessons. There is also recording equipment for you to use and enjoy." Hayley laughed as she saw Kira's mouth hanging open. Conner reached over to shut it for her. Kira was simply speechless; all she could do was smile and nod her approval.

"What can we do?" Tommy asked, referring to himself and Trent.

"You and Trent are going to teach some of the fitness classes. Trent, I want you to help with the café. In fact, I'd like all of you," referring to the young adults," to take just a shift or two a week so no one gets burnt out."

Tommy noticed that he was excluded. "You know, Hayley, I can help too/."

"No," Hayley firmly said.

"But why not?" Tommy asked flustered. He wasn't used to people telling him no.

Hayley crossed her arms and shook her head. "You know why," she replied.

Tommy exclaimed, "Really, are you still hanging THAT over my head? Come On, I grew up, I broke that habit."

Hearing the commotion, Ethan returned to the group. The younger rangers looked confused. Ethan finally dared to ask, "Okay, I am officially confused. What are you two talking about? Are we about to learn some deep dark secret about Dr. O?"

Tommy was starting to get frustrated by that point. "No!" he barked. "There is no deep dark secret. Hayley is simply referring to a bad habit, one that I have long since broken. During high school, I was a little forgetful and tended to be late for things on occasion. However, that was a long time ago. I am nothing like that now, right?" is tone was so serious that the rangers hesitated to cite any occurrences for fear of facing his wrath.

Hayley, however, was not afraid of Tommy, powers or not. "Look," she said. "I am not going to have you forgetting my customer's orders or getting distracted every time you see someone doing a martial arts pose incorrectly. It is not going to happen."

"When has that ever happened?" Tommy demanded, seeking a defense from the Rangers. However they seemed to be unable to come to his side.

After an awkward silence, Kira hesitantly offered an example. "Well there was that time that you forgot to return our tests for an entire month." She looked ashamed that she was ratting out her former teacher.

"That was five years ago, and that was one time. Besides I seem to recall you kids being late with homework from time to time," Tommy defended.

Conner smirked a little as he added, "Then there was that time last month that you forgot to come home and eat dinner. I was waiting for hours for you."

"As I recall, you did not wait on me. You ate the entire roast Hayley sent over," Tommy accused.

Ethan put up both hands and wondered aloud, "Uh, I am officially confused. How do you forget to go home and eat? It isn't like an optional thing."

"Look!" Dr. O roared. "I was kind of busy making your morphers! If you don't want me waiting tables, fine, but don't come crying to me when someone can't make it to work. I won't help you." He crossed his arms tightly and leaned back in his chair.

Trent used this silence as an opportunity to change the subject. "Hayley, what happens when there is a monster attack? If we are all working, then are we just going to run out of the rec center? That might be kind of obvious."

Hayley opened up a folder and passed around packets of documents. "Right now, I am giving you information as well as tentative schedules. These can and probably will change as we see what kind of services are in demand. On page two, we have our emergency policy monster attack policy. Most of the local businesses are creating these. When word goes out about a monster attack, we go into automatic lockdown. I expect to keep one worker back, probably the one at the counter for appearances as well as to keep everyone calm and present, at least temporarily. The other workers will secure the building and go off and fight the monster.

"If necessary, the worker at the counter will make up some excuse to leave the main part of the center and will sneak off. In the 'employee only' section, there is a secret passage way to the command center where you can easily morph or watch for alien activity."

Conner nodded and flipped through the packet. "Hayley?" he finally asked. "What does _Camuk_ mean?"

Hayley's face showed pure confusion. "Excuse me?" she asked.

Conner replied, pushing away his dark bangs from his face. "Page four: CMK." Everyone flipped to the appropriate page and looked at the area he was looking at. They looked up to see if he was joking around. He was not.

"Dude," Ethan exclaimed with sarcastic amazement. "It doesn't say _Camuk_. It's your name on the schedule. '10:00 Elementary soccer. CMK. Conner McKnight."

Conner looked like he was about to argue, but changed his mind. "Yeah, that was pretty dumb. Please go on." He wore a sheepish smile.

Kira looked up at Conner with a small smile. It was at times like this that she saw how much he had changed. Conner was still the athlete he had always been, she only had to remember to this morning's torture to realize that. In that regard, if there was any change it was in that he was stronger. He also obviously kept his sense of humor, but it had changed. HE was different somehow. Now she saw passion and humility. Five years ago, Conner would have been angry at Ethan and defensive for a comment like that. Now he accepted with a laugh and moved on.

Kira realized that she was still looking at Conner and glanced down at her packet to read through the tentative schedule. She noticed her initials, but saw that there was another set of initials: KH. "Hayley, who is KH?" she asked. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Dr. O frantically searching the page for KH.

Dr. O was shaking his head as he read aloud, "Beginner Gymnastics, Intermediate Gymnastics, Kickboxing, and Yoga. Hayley, please tell me that this isn't who I think it is,"

Hayley ignored Tommy and stood up and went to a side door to let someone in. As Hayley returned with a women, Tommy's frown turned into a scowl. The woman had shoulder length light brown hair. She had high cheekbones and a wide smile. She wore a rose colored tunic over a pair of black and grey leggings. This woman gazed at all of her surroundings before settling her gaze on the rangers at the counter. As her gaze fell upon Tommy, she instinctively held her breath and slid to the floor. With his super speed, Conner just barely reached her before Tommy did. Conner caught her before she hit the ground. Tommy picked her up and moved her to the couch with tenderness and ease as though he were carrying a baby bird. Trent checked for breathing and a pulse.

"She's fine," Tommy curtly said. "She's only fainted." He put a pillow behind her back to put her into a half seated half laying position.

Ethan ventured to ask, "Dr. O do you know her? Why are you not as surprised about her fainting as we are?" He regretted asking as he saw a muscle in his mentor's jaw twitch.

Tommy replied, "Pop quiz on ranger history time. You have three clues: Mighty Morphin, pink, KH. Figure it out." He seemed unwilling to even say her name out loud.

Trent, having joined the team later, was very confused. The boys were still thinking, but Kira already knew once she heard the time period and saw the pained look on Tommy's face.

"Kimberly Hart," Kira answered quietly. Tommy nodded absently. Conner's face showed that he recognized the name but looked confused.

"But that doesn't tell us why she fainted or why Dr. O didn't seem happy to see her. What's going on?" Conner asked. Kira started kicking Conner but it made no difference.

Dr. O abruptly stood up and walked out calling, "I need some air." Kira started to get up to talk to him. She knew some about what was going on. She had maintained with Adam after the Overdrive mission and had even met some of Dr. O's other teammates. She had been told that Tommy and Kim used to date but it ended. She didn't know when or how, but that Tommy had never recovered.

Conner saw Kira's intentions and put his hand on her knee. "Stop," he said quietly, "I know that expression. Dr. O needs to work off this frustration and anger. He can't think or see clearly. You don't need to get in between him and the tree is he's about to destroy." He smiled briefly, but frowned as he realized that she knew something that he didn't about the situation. "Kira, what do you know about Kimberly."

Kira sighed. It wasn't her story to tell, and yet how could any of them help Dr. O and Kimberly if they didn't know the history.

"Isn't it obvious, Conner?" She asked. "She broke his heart. They dated in high school, and at some point, it ended. Really badly. Didn't you see how just seeing her after all these years affected him?" She said it all softly and simply. There was enough drama in this story without adding any herself.

Conner looked as though he wanted to say something else, but as he opened his mouth, Kimberly started to stir. She moaned as she sat up completely. She opened her eyes to see four young adults and Hayley watching her intently. "Where's Tommy?" she asked.

The others clanked between one another before an African American boy in blue answered, "He, uh, stepped out for some air." He wasn't sure how much he should say.

Kimberly looked down and sighed. "He still hates me," she muttered.

Trent sat down on the arm of a nearby chair. "So," he said, "You know Dr. O?"

"Who?" Kimberly asked. She hadn't seen him since 1997 when she had visited with Jason, long before he earned his PhD.

Kira jumped in to explain, "He means Tommy. Dr. O-Tommy that is- was our science teacher our senior year of high school five years ago. He's been ah-"She looked over at Conner unsure of how much to tell Kimberly about their Ranger activities.

"He's been our mentor and teammate, Conner supplied. He wasn't entirely sure that Dr. O would want him to tell Kimberly about being a ranger, but as the leader it was his decision. "I have to tell you, we know a bit of the history you share with Tommy Oliver." His use of Dr. O's first name showed how serious he was at the moment. He wasn't a student right now, he was the leader. He let a small smirk escape as he saw Kimberly panic. "I'm not speaking about your romantic relationship. That is his story to tell us when he is ready. Yours's too I suppose. I am speaking of your ranger history."

Kimberly gasped. "Ok, how do you even know about that?" She looked frantic that a secret that she had worked hard for years to keep might be out in the open.

Conner flicked his write with the communicator forcing it to change into the Dino Morpher. "We are the current power rangers. This is the second time that we have been called."

Kimberly pointed a thin finger out towards indicating that he should pause. "You said that he was your teammate, so that means," her words drifted off but the rangers caught her meaning loud and clear.

"Yes," Conner replied. Tommy has also been called again as Power Ranger. At the beginning, five years ago, he was our mentor, but soon discovered the black gem and bonded with it. After nine months, we defeated Mesagog, the alien freak who wanted to make the earth back into Dino Land.

"About two weeks ago, Tommy called us back together because he suspected that there was a new threat to Earth. Since then, we have been training to fight these new freaks. WE don't know much about them though. We've only had one fight, but we feel that it is only a matter of time." Conner finished the story.

Kimberly couldn't help but shake her head. When she first looked at Conner, she thought he might be goofy, but he definitely was a born leader. "Wow," she marveled. "I can't believe that Tommy is still a ranger. No, I take that back, I really can believe it. He has always been happiest when he was helping others. I still have one question, though: Why am I here?"

Hayley spoke for the first time, "I can answer that question. As you know, I am Hayley Ziktor, owner of Hayley's cyberspace and rec center. What you don't know is that I am the mastermind behind the technology that the Dino Thunder uses. Morphers, vehicles, weapons, you name it. Even with all of the rangers working at the Rec center, I needed someone else to work and teach here. With things being the way they are, I couldn't just have any old teenager. I needed someone who knew about the Rangers. I looked through Tommy's old teams and picked someone with talents that would balance out the programs between things that boys would be interested and things girls would be interested. You seemed perfect. You have a fantastic resume with your medals and teaching experience. I honestly had no idea that you and Tommy had a- um- less than stellar history."

Kimberly started getting up. "Listen, I'll go. I don't want to wreck things for Tommy. I'm sure that someone else can help you." Tears started filling her eyes.

Conner put his hand on top of hers in a comforting manner to stop her. "No," he said with surprising tenderness. "It sounds like both of you were really hurt. Yet I can tell you don't want to leave things the way they are. Nothing is going to get better if you keep running away. I don't know what will happen between you and Tommy, if you will ever be what you used to be, but I'm sure you remember what it was like to be close even before you were dating. I bet you haven't felt that happiness in a long time." Although Conner directed the speech at Kimberly and had no idea what had happened between Kira and Trent, Kira felt Trent's gaze upon her though she refused to look in his direction. They had been very civil, but avoided much contact alone.

"Maybe you're right," Kimberly murmured.

Kira saw that she was still sad about Tommy's reaction and changed the subject. She jumped up and sat on the sofa next to her and said, "You know, I am so excited to work with you. Did you really win gold at the Pan Global two years in a row?"

For the first time since she'd woken up, Kimberly smiled. Before she could reply, she was interrupted by the infamous six note greeting from Conner's communicator cuff.

"Dr. O?" Conner answered, clear and direct. "We're listening."

"Conner, there are Blekkies down by the south shore of the beach. You'd better get here quickly," Dr. O commanded.

Instantly, Conner, Ethan, Trent, and Kira stood. "Sorry Kimberly, we've got to go. You know the drill," Ethan apologized.

Kimberly stood up as well, looking determined and fierce, every bit the Pink Ranger of the past. "Don't be sorry, I'm going with you," she announced, daring anyone to contradict her.

Conner took the dare. Shaking his head, Conner refused saying, "No. You may have been an active Ranger before, but your powers are gone. Besides, until you sort things out with Dr. O, you won't be able to work as a team."

Conner could tell that Kimberly disagreed but took her silence as accepting his leadership. He turned to his teammates and said, "I'll use my super speed to get there right away and help Dr. O. You guys use his jeep and meet up with us as soon as you can." He picked up the keys Dr. O had left behind to toss to Trent, that fastest driver of the three until Hayley stopped him.

"No, take the Raptor Cycles. I revamped them. Go!" Everyone jumped into action. The current Rangers rushed to the secret entrance to the command center. Seconds later, Kimberly heard the revving of motors she assumed to be Raptor Cycles. She glanced out the windows and just caught a glimpse of four greatly enhanced ATVs heading towards the south end of town. Hayley waved to Kimberly to join her in the Command Center.

As Kimberly walked into the command center, she was struck by the juxtaposition between the dark and dingy dinosaur theme with the advanced technology Hayley seemed to relish in. She and Billy would make a good pair, although he was already married and living on Aquitar. Kimberly perched herself on the edge of the computer desk and watched as Hayley quickly typed into the computer and brought up a visual of the Rangers. They had just arrived at the beach where Tommy was evacuating civilians who were being attacked by light purple oozing monsters. The younger rangers had already morphed for the sake of anonymity. Tommy was still unmorphed.

Kimberly marveled at Tommy's change in appearance. This was the first time she had seen Tommy since she had visited with Jason. Now instead of the illustrious locks and an earring that Kim was always used to, Tommy's hair was shorn short, only long enough to see some small gelled spikes. Looking down, she saw a small amount of facial hair ending with a goatee. Instead of the green or white of his youth, or even red from his Zeo days, Tommy was dressed almost entirely in black from his short sleeved dark gray tee shirt with a black stripe down the side to his dark tennis shoes.

Tommy appeared to check his surroundings briefly before using his dino morpher and changed into a black spandex suit with silver diamonds down the sides. He was now fighting four purple monsters that the rangers had called Blekkies. Apparently these were the equivalent to Tenga Warriors or Putties.

Tommy snarled in rage as he swung one Blekkie over his head into three other BLekkie. He warned himself that he needed to regain control over his emotions before he hurt himself or some other innocent person. There was, however, a sick satisfaction in fighting these Blekkies. IT was a more useful way to take out his frustration and it didn't bloody his hands like when he hit a tree.

He looked over at his younger teammates who had arrived moments before. Kira and Conner were teaming up against four or five Blekkies. They were completely in sync as they performed movements that seemed to be a cross between Dancing with the Stars and Tai Kwan Do. Their movements seemed effortless together, a testament to the level of team work they had achieved over the years. At this moment, Conner launched Kira up into the air so Kira could move into a kicking position, taking down the pair.

Trent and Ethan were moving simultaneously in a complicated routine that ultimately resulted in the last few Blekkies falling to the ground and evaporating into the salty air. For a moment everything was quiet. All of the seagulls had flown away at the first sight of the Blekkies. All of the beach goers had evacuated the area per Tommy's instructions. There wasn't even a breeze blowing through the air on this warm balmy day. Everything was still when all of a sudden a voice boomed out of the air.

"You probably think you've won, Power Doofusses!" The voice called. Unlike the voice from two weeks prior, this voice was shrill and feminine. However it appeared that the being held the same authority that the other voice did. "You are wrong!" The nagging voice continued with a cackle. "General Mayhem, Officer Sludge, defeat them then bring me their heads, or else!"

In the area in front of the rangers two figures appeared. The first was made up of red molten rock forming a strong body complete with four arms. At the end of each was a hand with a black spot on the palm. The other monster appeared to be a type of alien cyborg. His 'skin' was made up of black cord. He was bald except for a short Mohawk made up of the same cord down the center of his scalp. Half of his face was the cord but the other half was smooth bronze colored metal. The same metal made up the body except for the arms, hands, and legs. On each fingertip, there was a bronze colored patch like a fingerprint. Both figures looked menacing.

"Greetings, Rangers. I do hope you haven't been too bored. I suppose introductions are in order." The cyborg spoke in a nearly robotic voice. There was a false politeness in the way he spoke, as well as a deep sneer.

Kira shifted beside Conner. "Well aren't you just a gentleman," she taunted sarcastically.

Conner continued, "I suppose you're here to teach us etiquette, then." Behind the visor Conner was grinning.

"Silence, humans!" the cyborg ordered. "I am General Mayhem. Surrender now, and perhaps we will spare your lives. It is only a matter of time before you are decimated." Mayhem was now pointing his metal tipped finger at Conner's chest.

Tommy answered the order, "Well, you know that wasn't very polite. Maybe next time you should say please. No can do!" Tommy raised the Bracchio staff over his head, ready to defend the world.

General Mayhem snarled in response then roared in his robotic voice, "Very well then. Just remember, you had a chance!" with a BANG! lightning shot out of the outstretched finger that was pointed towards Conner. Conner just barely ducked out of its path. He looked back and if you could have seen under the visor, there was anger with a touch of fear. That is a dangerous combination to be on the receiving end.

Conner prepared and started to use his super speed to bolt towards Mayhem. Sludge jumped in front of Mayhem to protect him. "I will take care of them, General," he promised.

Cackling, Mayhem threatened, "See that you do!" At this Mayhem disappeared and Sludge ran to meet Conner in the direct assault. The other rangers jumped aside to see what would happen. The landed in position to strike if necessary, hands ready by their ray guns. Conner already had his in hand and started firing on the Monster. From all sides the rangers started to echo Conner's movements. However, although there were many direct hits, there seemed to be little to no impact on the monster. Tommy jumped forward to start hand to hand combat.

As Kimberly watched the Dino Thunder Rangers work, she clenched her fists. Though it had been more than ten years that she had donned her pink spandex suit, she found it difficult to just watch the fight going on. This was not the first time since she left that she felt this way. In Florida, she became alert every time she heard a police siren. She remembered with a touch of bitterness how it always annoyed Michael crazy when she would tune into the surrounding action more than him. Shaking her head, she banished him from her mind as she looked on the scene. This time, she couldn't rely on the police to intervene. She, of course knew that the situation was well in hand, especially with Tommy there, but she was powerless as she watched yet another alien creep attack the city. More than that, she hated watching Tommy getting hurt. HE was holding his own, but he couldn't destroy the monster alone. She wanted to scream at the other rangers to go help him. At this point, only red and black were in the midst of the battle. Finally the remaining rangers joined Tommy and Conner and combined their smaller ray guns into a long range weapon, did anything make a noticeable impact on Sludge.

As Sludge was hit directly, he fell down to one knee in pain. As he stood shakily, he appeared to be bleeding, but in reality he was melting into lava. It started out in trickles making sizzling streams in the sand but increased in speed until it turned into rivers of lava. Tommy knelt down to examine the lava but drew back in pain when his elbow brushed the lava. Although the ranger suits were protective for most things, lava obviously was able to get through.

Hayley dryly told the Rangers, "Don't touch that. It is approximately 750 degrees Fahrenheit and growing hotter with every second."

Frustrated, Tommy angrily shouted, "Well, is there anything we can do to, I don't know, get rid of it?" He did not want to see what his arm looked like under the suit.

Kimberly frowned. Despite the fact that she knew that he was in pain, she had never seen Tommy lose his patience like this. The Tommy she knew wasn't nearly this sarcastic. She remembered witty banter, but the old Tommy almost never lost his temper. He had used martial arts and meditation as a means to work through the frustrations which came with being a Power Ranger. The group had always managed to have fun activities on the off time to keep the relationships light hearted. Although she was sure that the younger rangers were good teammates, she doubted how effective they could be as friends to Tommy with the differences of age. They surely had different ideas of fun. Especially being their former teacher, he probably felt more like an authority figure than buddies most of the time.

Kimberly wished she could help, but realized that she was probably the last person Tommy would want to hang out with. Maybe someday he would forgive her for the letter or at least not hate her anymore.

Kim was shaken out of her thoughts by Hayley asking for help. "I need you," she said, "to watch the monitor. I need to alter their weapons to cool and destroy that lava." Nodding Kimberly took Hayley's place and looked at all of the technology with some apprehension. Kim definitely was not qualified for this.

"I wish Billy was here," she muttered. She looked at the Rangers now attempting to cool the lava by bailing water resulting only in releasing hot steam as the ocean water immediately evaporated.

Ethan asked Tommy, "Will any of our weapons help?"

Tommy shook his head, "No," he replied. "Most of our weapons are related to heat, the last thing we need to do is add fuel to his fire. I don't know what to do."

"Rangers," Kimberly said into the microphone. She saw Tommy practically snap his neck out of place at the sound of her voice coming out of his communicator. In spite of the situation, Kim let out a chuckle. "Rangers, right now, Hayley is working on a weapon that will cool Sludge down in a jiffy." She started thinking strategically. "At that point, you will freeze the lava solid, and use pure power, and a lot of it I imagine, to destroy it without heating it back up."

Tommy covered up his embarrassment of being caught off guard by responding with a biting remark. "In the meantime, I guess we will just sit around singing campfire songs, unless you have useful information." He kicked at a clump of sand on the ground.

Despite the fact that she knew Tommy was mad, she was shocked at this display. The last time she heard such remarks was when they were hit with a hatred spell. As far as she knew, this was all him this time.

She looked back up at the screen to see Conner bellowing at his mentor. It must have taken a great deal of courage as well as anger to stand up to the man who was probably like a father to him.

"Tommy!" he shouted, once again using Tommy's first name, "You are out of line. I don't know, and right now, I really don't care what kind of history you have with each other. Kimberly is helping us. Get your head in the game!"

As Conner was speaking, the lava started boiling. It molded itself back into the shape of Sludge, but rather a Sludge that was the size of an office building. Kira asked Kim, "Do you have any zords for us?"

Kim looked frantically at the keyboard. If only Billy was here, he would know how to send out the zords. Then she remembered, she had a female Billy to call on. "Hayley, we have a giant walking volcanic eruption. Where are the zords?"

"Yellow button!" Hayley called back, muttering about the indecency of Sludge to not stay where he was.

After searching for a brief moment, she found a large yellow button with the letter Z on it. Hoping that Z didn't refer to Lord Zedd, she pushed the button. Within a second she heard the sounds of dinosaurs and saw metal dinosaurs racing towards the Beach area to help their masters. There was a red T-Rex for Conner, a Triceratops for Ethan, white dragozord for Trent, and with a pang saw the yellow Pterodactyl soar overhead towards Kira.

She accidently pumped the mouse and clicked on the image of Sludge. A new window popped up. Frantically, worried that she might have inadvertently made the monster stronger, she read the words on the screen. With a sigh of relief, she found that it was full of stats about the monster. She gasped when she read that the monster was now 7000 degrees, ten times what it had been five minutes ago.

"Rangers," she called out, do not attempt hand to hand combat. Sludge is now 7000 degrees and growing hotter!" She paused for a moment and then gasped a gain. Into the microphone, she cried, "Sweet burning biscuits! He's now 7500 degrees!"

She heard exclaims of terror and wonder as she started clicking on the other zords hoping to find some weapon that would be effective against the monster.

At that moment, Hayley rushed over shooing Kimberly out of the seat. She hurriedly typed in new data and clicked her tongue triumphantly. Kimberly glanced at the monitor to see that Hayley had indeed created a new weapon for the occasion. She saw an ice sword appear into the megazord's hand.

Seeing the new Weapon appear, Conner grinned and started to wage battle with the volcanic creep. As Sludge threw fire balls at the megazord, Conner slashed his ice sword stopping it in its tracks. "Hayley," Conner began in a cautious tone, "I trust you, I really do, but I have to ask the question. Doesn't fire melt ice?"

Hayley laughed at his lack of belief in her abilities. "If it were actually ice, I would agree with you Conner. I'm glad you remember something from Tommy's class. Anyway, the sword isn't actually ice. It is made out of alien rock whose temperature is inversely correlated with the temperature of that it take it."

"Ok, once again for the non-rocket scientists in the room." Conner requested with an amused smile.

Tommy came to the rescue saying, "The hotter he makes it, the faster we can take him down."

"Nice," Conner cheered as he stopped another fireball with a swish of the sword. The rangers were not prepared for what happened next. Seeing that long distance attacks were useless, Sludge started charging towards the Megazord. With every step, the Rangers felt the stifling heat grow in intensity. As a result, they began to be sluggish in their reactions. At this point, the Rangers began panting like dogs on an August day. It was only with a great effort that Conner, with two hands clenched on the joystick managed to maintain his hold on the sword. Finally, Sludge closed in on the Megazord and grabbed it at the metallic wrist. The intense heat ran up the wires like nerves to Conner's control panel. Screeching in pain, he released his hold on the joy stick. His heart sank to his stomach as he heard the clatter of rock. The sword, their only weapon was out of reach.

Tommy began to order an evacuation when he heard a new scream of pain. He twisted around to look at each ranger, but it was not them. This time, it was Sludge. In his haste, Sludge had stepped on the sword. Although the point did not go in his feet, he felt the at least -7500 degree coolness on his feet. He lifted his foot and Ethan used his mad video game skills took the opportunity to grab the sword and plunge it into the monster's stomach. Sludge fell to his knees before bursting into flames. With a gust of wind, even the ashes blew away. Once again all was silent.

Kimberly watched in amusement as the Dino Thunder Rangers romped around celebrating their victory. Kimberly felt a tug of homesickness, wishing for the past when she felt like part of a team. She hadn't felt that way since she'd left the Rangers to go to Florida. Although the gymnasts lived and worked together closely, and despite the fact that Kimberly did have friends left from there, there was always an undercurrent of competition. Actually, her friendships improved when she stopped competing. Every gold medal Kim won was one that lost for someone else.

IT wasn't that way with Tommy, Jason, and the rest of her teammates from Angel Grove. They celebrated each other's accomplishments, even enough for Tommy to let her go without a fight. Hayley stood and said, "I'm going back upstairs to wait for the rangers. I found new information about our enemies. Are you coming?"

Kimberly looked back at Hayley and replied, "You go ahead. I'll be right up." Hayley nodded and stepped into the elevator. Kimberly sat in the vacated desk chair and watched the monitor. She saw the younger rangers start racing. Tommy gave a half smile and sat down on the sand, somewhat cradling the elbow he had burnt earlier.

Seeing that both she and Tommy were alone, she impulsively found and pressed the black button on the microphone. She saw Tommy instinctively look panicked hearing the communicator make its sound. "Hayley, I read you," Tommy urgently said. Obviously, Tommy expected to hear news about another monster attack. This unnerved Kimberly and she hesitated to say anything. Fearing the worst, Tommy repeated, "I read you, what's wrong?"

Gathering her courage, Kimberly nervously rambled, "Nothing is wrong, I mean, there is, but uh-. This is Kimberly. There is no monster attack!"

Tommy sighed. "What Kim, spit it out," he said impatiently.

For another moment, Kimberly was silent. Finally she whispered, "I'm sorry." Never before had two small words carried such meaning.

Tommy's face softened. "I know, Kim. I know," he reassured her. Their relationship was still broken but there was at least a start to the healing.

Back at the rec center, Tommy and Conner allowed Kim and Kira respectively to apply some intergalactic burn ointment to their injuries as Hayley began telling them about the information she had found. "The samples you took from the original battle, the purple goo, was not conclusive enough for me to know where our enemies are from. Although I traced the planet where that goo grows naturally, I also found out that it is regularly traded throughout the many planets out there. However, with the information about Mayhem and Sludge, I was able to figure out where they came from. I searched the intergalactic military records." At this Conner's face showed disbelief that this was reality and not some sci-fi show that he was watching. "I was able to make a complete match. General Mayhem and Officer Sludge are in the royal army under Prince Domino and Princess Trixie. They live on a planet called Casecordium. Knowing that we can start looking at the people in the army to anticipate their attacks so we are not caught off guard like today."

She paused and looked over at Kimberly. "I really have to commend you, Kimberly. You jumped right in to advising the rangers and had really good instincts. You are going to be a great asset to our team." She stopped and looked at Tommy with a stern face. "That is, if we work together."

Tommy smiled. "She's right Kim," he said. "You did a great job. I shouldn't have been so rough on you."

Kim blushed and replied, "Its ok. I understand under the circumstances."

"No," Tommy repeated, "It wasn't right. If it's ok with you, do you want to be part of the team again?"

Kim smiled and nodded happily.

Conner fist pumped, in the process accidently knocking over the tub of ointment. "Oops," he said. "That's great Dr. O. About earlier, how I yelled at you." He trailed off. The look on his face was a "Don't kill me" look

Grinning, Tommy asked, "Don't you mean Tommy?"

Ethan asked, "Huh?"

"You called me Tommy earlier," Tommy accused.

"Sorry about that."

Tommy stopped him. "You know," he said. "It might be time for you guys to call me Tommy" The shock on the younger ranger's faces was laughable.

Hayley joined in. "With everything here at the new rec center and the Power Ranger stuff, it is going to be busy, but we can handle it if we are a team." She held a hand in the center of the table. Tommy and Kimberly instantly met it followed by Conner, Kira, Trent and Ethan.

"TEAM!" they yelled in unison.

A/N Wow. That was a long chapter. I am hoping that this will become the average length as we progress. I'm not done with the Tommy/Kimberly relationship. They have a long way to go before they are friends let alone anything deeper than that. I am still working out which pairings I want to promote, so if you have any ideas or preferences let me know! IF you have any ideas for monsters or situations I will take those into account too. Let me know what you think in the reviews. See you later!


	5. When Life Gives You Lemons

A/N Thank you for your ideas so far. I can't promise that I will use every one as you wrote it, I will probably put my on twist on it. As usual, I do not own Power Rangers or any other franchise or anything other than my laptop, and I don't own that until I graduate college. The song at the bottom belongs to (I assume) John Legend)

When Life gives you Lemons

"For the record, I think this is a bad idea. I mean like _When I Grow Up_ by Pussy Cat Dolls kind of bad," Kira said. She looked on as Conner and Ethan carried a three gallon carafe of lemonade (with the lid off) from the kitchen area to the designated snack table. She was seated at the café counter chopping carrots, celery, broccoli, and green peppers for a veggie tray.

Conner clucked his tongue a few times. "Kira, Kira, Kira," he said in a condescending tone, as if she were three instead of 20 years older. Kira narrowed her eyes but remained silent as Conner continued saying, "Are you really questioning my physical strength?" He released one hand from the carafe to show off his biceps allowing the sweet yellow liquid to splash dangerously near the top.

Kira rolled her eyes and fired back, "No, but I am questioning the thing in your head you claim is a brain." She looked over at the man in blue. "May I ask why you are in on this scheme? You are supposed to be the smart one."

Ethan replied, "He pulled red rank. I had to listen." He only managed to give a half shrug and continued to toddle towards the snack table that now seemed a mile away.

"You could have pulled blue rank, encourage him to use rational thought. Tell him he's an idiot maybe? Oh wait, apparently that's my job. Maybe you're right, I don't think logic and reasoning would make it through his fat head anyway," she said lightly. She laughed as she saw Conner's face drop into a mock scowl. Having finished cutting the last vegetable, she picked up the tray and started carrying it to the table. Suddenly Kira heard a familiar voice cry out, "Kira-Boo!" She turned to see Cassidy Cornell walking into the room. She wore a pale blue suit and a "press" pass around her neck which somewhat explained her presence here two hours before the actual event, but it did not explain the two children, one boy and one girl who followed at a run tearing through the place.

"Cassidy," Kira greeted. "What are you doing here?" She hoped the words came out in a friendly way as opposed to a _Why are you here two hours early with two rampaging children_ kind of way. She quickly set the veggie tray down on the snack table so she could give Cassidy a quick hug. Despite being in town for a month now, this was the first time she had seen Cassidy in person. Kira watched her on the news where she was now a lead anchor.

Cassidy gave a light laugh and replied, "O you know me, Kira, always where the action is. OR in this case, will be. You might not be aware, but I have been assigned this story and have been covering the details for weeks. I certainly can't ignore the grand opening." She paused and continued, "And of course it give me the opportunity to see you again! Have you met the kids yet?" She waved the two children over two her and introduced them. "This is Cameron, and Darla. They are my nephew and niece. My sister and her husband decided they needed to leave and do something stupid like feed orphans in Haiti. So, I have the- uh- pleasure of having these little darlings all summer. Darla will be learning to play the piano and Cammy will be in the beginning sports classes. Darla is trying to convince me to let her in the martial arts class. It might be good for her, but it isn't very ladylike. You will just love them, such little angels."

Cassidy was cut off by Conner saying, "Come on, cut it out," to the little 'angels.' Cameron, aged six was chasing his little sister Darla, age five around Conner and Ethan's legs. At first the Ranger reaction time honed by years of practice was helping them, but finally the two children managed what the Blekkies and Tyrannadrones hardly ever did, made Conner stumble. Kira barely had time to see what was happening before it happened. The Carafe of lemonade flew out of Conner and Ethan's ands up into the air and fell just short of Kira, splashing the full 3 gallons of lemonade all over Kira. Drenched and sputtering, she made moves to strangle Conner but was pulled back by Cassidy.

"OMG! It is a total fashion emergency!" Cassidy cried. "Well even more than it was already." Kira looked across the room to the wall of mirrors. Her long strawberry blonde hair was dripping sweet lemonade. Her yellow tee that she had altered by tying up the sides was drenched. Directing her attention to Cameron and Darla, she said, "Now children do you see what you have done? I want you to apologize to Conner for making him lose his balance." Kira's mouth dropped open in horror as the children gave half-hearted apologies to Conner.

Far beyond the planet Earth, Trixie was cackling to herself in the palace. She watched as the Power Doofus Leader Conner stumbled and dumped gallons of the human liquid they called lemonade over the yellow ranger. "Poor, sweet, pathetic Kira," Trixie crooned mockingly to the empty room. A malicious giggle erupted from Trixie's throat as she watched Kira sputter in frustration. Trixie stood and retrieved a sketch book from the table and started sketching intently.

Domino walked in followed by General Mayhem. They were arguing about the previous defeat at the hands of the rangers.

In a commanding voice, Domino asked, "Why would you leave Sludge on his own? He was clearly not prepared for the job." He began pacing in irritation.

"Sire," Mayhem protested, "I agree that it was foolhardy to send in a mere lieutenant but it was impossible to foresee the rangers coming up with a solution to our attack. They are stronger than we thought."

"Enough excuses," Domino replied a cool calculated tone. "Wat we need is a monster who will prey on the Ranger's weaknesses. One they will never think of how to defeat. But who shall we send?"

Without looking up from her work, Trixie supplied, "Relax brother, I am already working on the monster who will defeat the Power Rangers." She held up her sketch to reveal a sketch of a fighter clearly inspired by lemons. The figure's torso was rounded like a lemon with a smaller lemon as a head. The arms and legs were well muscled, prepared to fight.

Domino scoffed and turned around to continue speaking to Mayhem about potential solutions. He heard his sister tapping her pencil on the table in irritation, but struggled ahead to ignore her. After a moment, he could practically feel her intent glare on is back. Quietly, when she was at her angriest, she always spoke softly, she asked, "Which part of my idea amuses you, may I ask?"

Turning, Domino saw the determined look on her face, one that usually did not leave her face until she won the argument. Rather than tell her that her idea was dumb, he sat down and relented, "What is your idea?"

"You need a new outfit!" Cassidy cried out. Kira, while agreeing that she did not wish to go out in lemonade stained clothing all day she dreaded the idea of Cassidy picking out clothes for her. Before Kira could reply, Cassidy rushed on, "Please, no need to thank me. I am happy to do it. I can't wait to fix your fashion issues."

Once again Kira opened her mouth to politely refuse but was interrupted by the sound of her communicator. Kira glanced back at Conner and Ethan who quickly got up from where they were scrubbing the lemonade from the floor. She gave a knowing look to Cassidy, who thankfully took the hint. It was kind of nice to have her know about being a Power Ranger at times like this. It meant that there were fewer awkward excuses about why she was disappearing at the same time the Power Rangers came on the scene.

"Kids, we need to go and let Kira, Conner, and Ethan finish up work for the open house, say goodbye," she said to Darla and Cameron. She ushered the kids out of the door, allowing Kira to answer the communicator.

"What's up, Tommy?" She asked. Dr. O was currently watching the screen to make sure that they knew about monster attacks the minute they happened. Kira still found it difficult to call Dr. O Tommy.

"We have Blekkies down by the old Cyberspace café. I'm calling Kimberly to come and watch the monitors so I can come fight with you," Tommy said in a rush.

"We're on it," Ethan replied. They locked the door behind them and ran the two blocks over to the old Cyberspace café. The purple blekkies turned as they heard footsteps coming down the alley. Immediately the Dino Thunder Rangers prepared to fight. The two groups rushed towards each other and began fighting. Ethan's skin hardened into rough scales to protect him from the three Blekkies he was currently attacking. With fast reaction speeds honed from hours of video game playing, he blocked several kicks, punches and tackles. Finally, he let out a round house kick knocking down a group of the offenders.

Kira used a combination of kickboxing techniques and aerobic dance that allowed her to seamlessly surround a crowd into a corner before Conner let down a large wooden box that had been hanging from a crane down on their heads. Kira looked up at him and bantered, "You just have to have all the glory, don't you?"

Conner grinned and replied, "Did someone rain on your parade?"

"No, but they did dump lemonade on me," Kira innocently. Conner rolled his eyes.

"Really, how many times do I have to say I'm sorry for that?"

Kira paused to think a moment while whipping around to round house kick a Blekkie. "I don't know, maybe once?" She let out two jabs knocking out another Blekkie.

Before Conner could reply, twenty new Blekkies surrounded the two of them. "Maybe we can continue this conversation later." Instantly, the two were joined by Trent who had just come from the shopping district where he was getting last minute supplies.

"Should we morph?" Trent asked. Conner nodded.

In unison, all four young adults went into their morphing stance feet wide, holding their Morphers out in front of them. "Dino Thunder! Power Up!" Conner, Kira, and Ethan said.

"White Ranger, Dino Power!" Trent called. Immediately the Ranger's civilian clothes were replaced by their color coded spandex suits with diamonds running down the sides. They then turned as Tommy joined them and quickly morphed. The number of Blekkies seemed to double in numbers. Nevertheless, the Rangers fought on against the foot soldiers. One by one the Blekkies fell to the ground, but suddenly they all disappeared leaving the Rangers alone.

In their place, a seven foot yellow monster with yellow hand grenades lining his belt stood in front of them. In most ways he was a fighter, but had a head that resembled a lemon. Kira groaned as she the inspiration for this monster. The monster threw himself into a fighting stance and called, "Hello Puny Power Punks. Ready for some fun?"

Trent responded, "We're going to squeeze you dry!"

"Ha Ha!" The monster laughed, "I'd like to see you try!" With that the fight ensued. Flurries of punches and kicks came at the monster, but he did nothing. There were no marks on him.

Conner called out, "Tyranno Staff!" summoning his weapon followed by his teammates bringing forth grips, shields, and swords to up the fight a bit. Still however, it was clear that there was little to no impact on the opponent.

"No one can beat Citron! I'm bored! Here, take this to go!" The monster launched the lemon grenades up in the air and they fell just short of the rangers knocking them out of morph. spinning on the spot, Citron disappeared.

The rangers groaned as they got up. Tommy asked, "Is everyone ok?" Everyone responded with nods, although it was unconvincing. Tommy held his communicator up towards his mouth and said, "Kim, do you have a visual on Citron?"

After a short pause there was a reply, "Tommy, the lemon freak is over by the rec center. There are a bunch of people waiting for us to open. You better get over here."

Tommy grimaced and if the crease in his forehead was any indicator, he was working on a solution. "Kim, can you run upstairs and let everyone in? Have a practice lockdown. We will get there, but first can you send up the raptor cycles?"

Though there was no response, the rangers almost immediately heard the hum or the motor bikes. The five rangers quickly morphed and sprang onto the bikes as soon as they arrived. Within thirty seconds, they had arrived at the rec center. Kimberly was still ushering children and teenagers into building. They were not alone however. Citron stood laughing launching grenade after grenade towards the people. Conner didn't see any impact though. "What's the point of this, the bombs aren't doing anything."

"Ethan replied, "You don't know that. There might be poisonous gas or something being released into the air."

"Come on, we need to stop him!" Kira shouted. In answer all of the rangers rushed to get in between Citron and the people. They flinched as the grenade came hurtling towards them but did nothing unlike the first grenade from earlier. They all pulled their blasters from the utility belt and let loose on Citron. He only laughed and let them hit him. Punch after Punch, Kick after kick landed squarely on the monster, but he only seemed to grow a few inches taller and wider, giving the appearance of a well- muscled lifter. Finally all five rangers released a punch from different angles at the same time and landed a hit that should have knocked him out cold. Instead, Citron began to shake, subtly at first but growing in speed quickly. A stream of citric acid streamed out of Citron's ears covering the rangers. This was no ordinary acid, it seemed to burn through the suit to the skin.

While the Rangers were distracted, Citron again turned on the spot and disappeared.

"Ugh! What are we going to do?" Trent raged. He was kneeling on the ground in pain.

Tommy looked down to notice that all of the patrons of the rec center were out of site. "Power Down!" he shouted. He was echoed by the four other rangers. Tommy lifted his morpher to his mouth and asked, "Kim, where is Citron?"

Instead of Kim's voice, he heard Hayley's commanding voice. "I want you to come down to the lab."

"But what about the citrus freak!?" Trent demanded. Despite his bluster, Trent did not look like he was capable of fighting any longer.

"Now!"

"You are so strong! I bet you can bench 500 lbs.!" Trixie was practically hanging on Citron. As the rangers suspected, he was visibly larger than before. The biceps and pectoral region were swollen and had the appearance of someone who had worked out.

Domino rolled his eyes at his desperate sister. Wryly he said, "It looks more like water weight than muscle."

Trixie turned and glared at Domino. Though her angry gaze was on Domino, she spoke to Citron. "Don't listen to him, my acidic baby. He's just jealous. He wouldn't know what to do with a bar bell.

Citron laughed good naturedly and affectionately poked Trixie on the nose. Domino stifled a gagging noise in his throat but it was clear that he was disgusted by what was going on. "Domino is right, for now. When I first take in the water from the weak earthlings, it is water weight. In a few hours, however. Let's just say, I wouldn't want to be in their place." He chuckled and started flexing, admiring himself in a mirror.

Domino smiled a wicked smile. "In a few hours, the Power Rangers will be powerless to protect their little town, let alone the world!"

Tommy, Conner, Trent, Ethan, and Kira sat on the floor of the lab waiting for Hayley to speak. They were leaning back nursing their injuries. Thankfully, the bruises weren't too visible. Conner looked up from a bruise that was already turning purple on his side. "What now?" he asked sourly.

"Now," she began, "We figure out what is in these grenades, and what they do. I need one of you to stay behind so I can study the effects." She looked at Conner, "Conner, you took a direct hit from one of those grenades. You are the best one to observe." Conner was too tired to argue. At her direction he laid down on a metal bed that slowly retracted into a machine.

Trent stepped forward, "What do we do?"

You open up the rec center as planned. Everyone is there. Just go up and give the all clear. Kimberly should be up there keeping everyone calm."

Nodding, the white, blue, yellow, and black ranger walked out. Before leaving, Tommy, leaned close to Hayley and said, "You've got this."

Tommy and the others walked up and almost immediately Kira was assaulted by several shopping bags. Cassidy's face peered over the top with a broad grin. Though Kira had been fearless facing Citron, she was scared silly at the prospect of Cassidy shopping for her.

"There you are!" Cassidy cried. She grabbed Kira's thin arm and pulled her towards the locker room. "You are going to love what I found. I went a little crazy, but it was worth it."

Kira looked desperately back at the group and mouthed, "Help me!" but they, only barely containing their laughter, shrugged their shoulders. Kira began thinking evil thoughts about the very painful deaths that each of the rangers would face very soon. If she had to wear a yellow taffeta tutu, it would be stained by their blood, starting with Conner.

Trent stopped filling the sandwich tray for the third time to gulp down water. He shook his head. He had never felt this thirsty before. He turned to Ethan who was cradling his head.

"Man, I don't think I hit my head, but wow this hurts" Ethan looked out at the people hanging out. Several teens were trying to rub out a muscle cramp, and some young kids were crying, yet no tears were coming. The general atmosphere was stressed. Even Cassidy couldn't spin a good story out of this. In fact, Cassidy was reclined on a lounge chair with Devon fanning her vigorously.

"Not so fast!" Cassidy wailed. "I want a gentle breeze, not a hurricane." She snapped her fingers and looked up wildly trying to see something. "Kids!" Cam and Darla came traipsing up with several bottles of water in their arms. Cassidy took one and thirstily gulped down the cold liquid.

Trent looked up and saw Ethan motioning to him by the kitchen door. "What do you think is going on?" Trent asked.

"I don't know why or how," Ethan started, "but everyone here, including us, is suffering from symptoms of dehydration." No sooner had Ethan said this than the communicator went off.

"Ethan here,"

"Ethan," Hayley said, "I need you to bring the others down with you. I have some information about the grenades."

"We will be right there," Ethan responded. He looked over at Kira where she and Kim were teaching a sample kickboxing class. Catching her eye, he nodded towards the door to the lair.

When the three rangers got downstairs, Conner was just sitting up by the machine.

"How are the people upstairs?" Conner asked concerned. He slid on his athletic jacket over his t-shirt.

Ethan looked over at the others before saying, "We have been noticing signs of severe dehydration. Is that a possibility, Hayley?"

"I'd say it was more than a possibility. I scanned Conner for his vital signs and chemicals. He, too is severely dehydrated. Upon questioning, I decided that there were no marked changes in his daily routine to justify this kind of condition. Your information gives me enough of a connection to say that the cause of this condition is the lemon grenades." Hayley put up some information on the computer screen although only Tommy is actually interested in the diagrams.

Trent stepped up and asked, "Do you have an antidote we can give the people?"

"I am still working on that," Hayley said. "I am hoping that if you defeat the monster, all of the damage will be resolved." She paused, "I also have some information about that. It appears that the water from everyone hit with these grenades are not disappearing, but being transferred to Citron." She clicked to a live video feed of Citron. He appeared to be growing every second.

"If he is growing, how are we supposed to defeat him?" Conner asked. "We could barely handle him at his original size."

Hayley looked troubled. "I really don't know," she conceded. "I am trying to make a weapon, but I constantly have to readjust the strength and then I am not working on an antidote."

Tommy looked at the dejected young adults. "Come on guys," he said, "We have faced all kind of monsters before and we have succeeded every time. We need to keep our spirits up." Kira gave a half-hearted nod.

Conner, however, jumped up and said, "We need to get out and squeeze that lemon before he hurts anyone else! Dino Thunder, Power Up!" One by one each ranger morphed into their color coded suits. "Let's go!" Conner led the charge out to the raptor cycles and they sped out to where Citron was sucking the moisture out of more civilians.

"Hey, Sour Puss!" Ethan shouted up to Citron who was visibly bigger.

Citron scowled and said, "You look a little thirsty, have some lemonade!" He laughed and tossed a few lemon grenades at them. The rangers were knocked down by the impact. Kira could feel the moisture leaving her body.

"We can't keep going like this, we need to beat him now." Kira cried in a weak voice.

Much to their dismay, Citron grew even more. However, Trent began to notice something.

Tommy, shouted, "He's too big, we need to use the zords,"

As he said it, he heard the mechanical dinosaurs approaching. One by one, they leapt into the individual Zords.

"Alright!" Conner cheered, "Let's smash this lemon!"

At that moment, Citron began firing on them. Kira had to swerve in flight to avoid being hit.

Tommy shouted, "Let's call the Megazord." Each zord started shifting into their piece of the Megazord. As the Zord was completed, it held a sword in its grasp.

At once, a fight ensued with hand to hand combat. By now Citron was the same size as the Megazord and twice as wide. Trent continued to notice something odd about Citron. He was big, very big in fact, but he didn't look as strong. In fact he was stumbling and groaning as though he had a stomach ache.

"Look!" Trent shouted. Everyone looked at Citron stumbling. "Hayley, what's going on with him?" he asked.

After a moment, Hayley responded, "Citron is way too full of water weight."

Trent grinned, "I have a plan." He looked at Conner. "Conner, do you remember that party the year after we graduated."

Conner laughed, "Of course I do, with all of the water balloons! And that one, that I kept filling up bigger and bigger! That was great!" At that instant, Conner's face lit up, "I got it." Conner flashed back to a summer party about four years ago, where the former rangers had started a water balloon fight. Conner had decided to make a monster water balloon, so as he filled the balloon bigger and bigger until it was as big as a small boulder. Conner launched it up in the air, but it fell down quickly and burst on impact back on Conner's head.

Trent started explaining the plan. Kira began egging Citron towards the beach, with punches and kicks. Finally when Citron was standing on the beach, looking more green than yellow, Ethan started dancing around in front of the water.

In irritation, Citron called, "Take that!" and released several lemon grenades in the direction of the ocean. Quickly, Tommy had the zord jump aside allowing the lemons to fall in the water. There was a loud rumble as Citron started swelling rapidly. He was now reminiscent of a 25 story tall beach ball. Conner brought his sword up in an attack mode and rushed towards Citron with a mighty shout.

Conner's sword had barely touched Citron stomach when with a loud –POP! - Citron burst like the balloon at the party. Lemon Juice burst from the top of Citron's head, exploding towards the sky. Immediately the rangers felt rehydrated. They sighed a deep sigh of relief and gave each other high fives.

"I told you it would never work," Trixie shrieked. She blundered Domino over the head with her sketchpad.

"What?" He cried. "It was your idea from the beginning. I didn't want to do it, but no! It has to be your way!"

"I'll get them next time, you'll see, brother! Even without you!" Trixie shouted back hysterically.

At the rec center, the citizens of Reefside also started feeling the effects of the rehydration. The people did not look as pale and glassy-eyed. The teens who had been vigorously rubbing out leg cramps felt the relief of the muscles loosening. Cassidy suddenly sat up and pushed away Devon and the children rushing to the restroom, tripping over several empty water bottles along the way.

Kim smiled seeing the sight of the relief in the faces of the children and teens of the city. She elbowed Hayley and pointed at Cassidy struggling to get to the restroom. "She is a piece of work, isn't she?"

Hayley rolled her eye and replied, "You have no idea. I could write a book on her, but people would never believe it."

"Speaking of not believing, I couldn't believe that Kira actually tried on the outfit Cassidy bought her. I mean, they don't exactly have similar styles."

Hayley chuckles and answered, "Yes, I believe Cassidy once called Kira an 'Avril wannabee.' She paused and asked, "How do you think it turned out?"

Kim smiled and looked up towards the stage. "I guess we'll find out in a minute," she mused.

At that moment, Kira stepped out onto the stage with her guitar. She was wearing an outfit that was suited both for performing on stage and for working out. On the bottom, she wore a pair of black and yellow animal print leggings that stopped at the knee. On top, she wore a loose yellow off the shoulder top that tied up the front covered by a short black leather jacket. IT was definitely Kira.

Kira sat down on a stool and spoke into the microphone, "Hey everyone, On behalf of Hayley and all of our instructors here, I want to thank you for coming in today to see what we have to offer. We really just want to be here for you and your kids so they have a place to grow and play safely. To close out the night, I thought I would play you a song that really inspires me and I hope it inspires you too."

 _"If You're Out There"_

 _If you hear this message_

 _Wherever you stand_

 _I'm calling every woman_

 _Calling ever man_

 _We're the generation_

 _We can't afford to wait_

 _The future started yesterday_

 _And we're already late_

 _We've been looking for a song to sing_

 _Searched for a melody_

 _Searched for someone to lead_

 _We've been looking for the world to change_

 _If you feel the same, well go on and say_

 _If you're out there_

 _Sing along with me if you're out there_

 _I'm dying to believe that you're out there_

 _Stand up and say it loud if you're out there_

 _Tomorrow's starting now...now...now_

 _No more broken promises_

 _No more call to war_

 _Unless it's Love and Peace that_

 _We're really fighting for_

 _We can destroy Hunger_

 _We can conquer Hate_

 _Put down the arms and raise your voice_

 _We're joining hands today_

 _I was looking for a song to sing_

 _Searched for a leader_

 _But the leader was me_

 _We were looking for the world to change_

 _We can be heroes_

 _Just go on and say_

 _If you're out there_

 _Sing along with me if you're out there_

 _I'm dying to believe that you're out there_

 _Stand up and say it loud if you're out there_

 _Tomorrow's starting now...now...now_

 _Whoa now...now...now_

 _If you ready we can save the world_

 _Believe again, start to mend_

 _We don't have to wait for destiny_

 _We should be the change that we want to see_

 _If you're out there_

 _If you're out there_

 _And you're ready now_

 _Sing it loud, scream it out_

 _If you're out there_

 _Sing along with me if you're out there_

 _I'm dying to believe that you're out there_

 _Stand up and say it loud if you're out there_

 _Tomorrow's starting now_

 _If you're out there_

 _If you're out there_

 _If you're out there_

 _If you hear this message_

 _Wherever you stand_

 _I'm calling every woman_

 _Calling ever man_

 _We're the generation_

 _We can't afford to wait_

 _The future started yesterday_

 _And we're already late_

As the music ended Kira sat back and waved up Tommy, Hayley, Kim, Ethan, Conner, and Trent. Kira got a devilish grin on her face. "And now, I would like to announce a new tradition inspired by my buddy Conner here. Conner, if you would close your eyes, I have a surprise." Puzzled Conner closed his eyes. Tommy handed out pitchers to Kira and the rest of the group. "Ready, One Two Three!" Immediately Conner was drenched from head to toe in pink lemonade."

For a moment, Kira wasn't sure what to make of his expression. He didn't appear to be angry. Then, Conner broke out in a grin and called out, "Aww Kira how sweet! You know, for that you deserve a great big hug." Shrieking, Kira ran and jumped off the stage closely followed by Conner. The audience broke out in loud laughs.

Tommy nudged Hayley and said, "This thing is going to be great." Hayley answered only with a smile.

A/N: Hey all, sorry for the long wait. If it is reassuring, the delay was in part because I am so excited about the next two chapters that I have at least 2000 words written for each of them. We have great things coming up. A lot of emotions and character development.

If you have any new ideas for more monsters or situations, let me know. Please just let me know what you think.


	6. Conner's Passion Part 2

Conner's senses were assaulted by the number of sights, smells, and sounds in Reefside international airport. Some were pleasant such as the aroma of cinnamon rolls and the sight of families reuniting. Some were unpleasant like the shoving strangers pushing past him and the curse words floating past his ears. However, Conner barely noticed these sensations as he searched left and right. Finally he caught sight of his longtime girlfriend, Krista. She was wearing a dark blue sleeveless maxi dress that was belted at the waist. Her dark hair had grown to where it hit her elbows.  
"Krista!" Conner squeezed through the crowds to meet her and opened his arms for a hug. Krista wrapped her arms around Conner for a quick hug.  
"I missed you," Conner said as he took her tote bag to carry. "Do you have any other luggage?"  
"No," Krista replied. "I packed light." After a moment, she responded to Conner's first statement saying, "It has been a long time." She followed Conner out of the busy airport to Tommy's Jeep.  
"I know you don't like using cars, but I didn't know if you would have luggage, so I borrowed Dr. O's jeep." Conner started the car and started driving towards downtown Reefside.  
Krista hesitated and said, "I guess you are still close with Dr. O."  
"Yeah, a lot of us are. Ethan, Trent, Kira, and I are all close. He has been a great mentor." Conner laughed a little at the irony." In fact, all of us are involved in Hayley's new rec center. I am coaching soccer for the kids."  
Conner didn't notice Krista roll her eyes. "More soccer?"  
"Why not? It is a great way to help the kids." Conner replied light heartedly. He grinned and said, "I know I already told you, but I really missed you. I have hardly heard from you." Conner took one hand from the steering wheel and took Krista's in his own. Conner suddenly froze. Along with callouses formed from planting and studying plants, Conner also felt something hard on Krista's fourth finger. His heart plummeted to his stomach. Seeing the driveway to the park, Conner signaled a turn and drove to an empty parking space. He had long since let go of Krista's hand when he looked into her face directly.  
"I suppose congratulations are in order," he said in a dead voice.  
"Please don't make a big of this," she pleaded. She had lost all color at the accusation.  
Conner laughed sarcastically. "How big a deal should I make of the fact that my girlfriend of four years has been cheating on me, and apparently thought I would be too dumb to notice an engagement ring on her finger? How long?" He asked.  
"How long what?" Krista asked, although it was clear that her ignorance was an act.  
Conner's voice grew louder and more clipped. "Unless this is a cheesy Disney movie where the guy just happens to have a ring in his pocket when he meets a girl and proposes 0.2 seconds after saying hi, you have been with him for a while. How long?  
Krista looked at Conner with some scorn. "He proposed two months ago."  
"And before that?"  
Krista looked away before saying, "A year. Conner, I didn't know how to tell you."  
Conner, in anger, slammed his fist on the steering wheel emitting a loud blast of the horn. A few power walkers glanced up startled at the sound. "I don't know, a call on the phone, write a letter, or visit when you claim you are coming. Anything, a text even!"  
Krista sighed and said, "It started out innocently. He and I were just working together. He was so great with the plants, and so passionate about the work we were doing."  
"So it comes to that again," Conner broke in. "If I don't want to hug a tree like you do, I'm not good enough."  
"It would be nice for you to have some passion about something," Krista shot back. "All I ever hear you talking about are those soccer camps."  
"What about my soccer camps?" Conner demanded. His voice was rising steadily.  
Krista stared at him with steel in her eyes. "Roger realizes that there are bigger things in the world than a stupid soccer game. There are issues that need to be dealt with."  
Conner looked at her agape. How dare she insinuate that he didn't care about the world? He was a power ranger for goodness sakes.  
Conner let out a bitter chuckle. "It's kind of ironic, you know? At the beginning you didn't want to be involved with me because you thought I was a player. Looks like I was the one played." He thrust the key back into the ignition and the engine fired up.  
"What are you doing?" Krista asked.  
Conner looked at her with a tired gaze. "I am taking you home, just like I promised." After that, the ride was silent.  
Kira was jumping rope as Conner pulled up she coughed as the dust flew in her face and winced when Conner slammed the door shut. "I thought you were going to hang out with Krista today."  
He responded by kicking a tree a few times. "Apparently, things didn't go well with Krista."  
Conner turned to her with a bit of wrath. "She has a fiancé," he bit out.  
"No!" Kira gasped.  
"No offense, but I don't want to talk about this right now," Conner's mouth was set in a fine line.  
Kira was silent for a few seconds. What could she say to make him feel better? She looked at him. He was clearly agitated and was tapping his foot with nervous energy. Kira stood up and nudged Conner. "If you don't want to talk, let's spar."  
Conner looked surprised and a little doubtful. "That might not be a good idea."  
Kira smirked, "I can take care of myself." She started gently bouncing from foot to foot in a boxer shuffle.  
Conner sighed and removed his leather jacket to reveal a red t-shirt. Conner knelt and took off his shoes. He then got into a fighting stance. Kira and Conner started circling each other always keeping sight of the other. Finally, Conner launched out with a jab. Kira ducked out of the way and set an upper cut towards Conner's jaw. Conner easily blocked. Kira swung her foot around Conner's legs and pulled his feet out from under him. Conner came down on his butt with a thud. Kira held out her hand out to help him, but Conner responded by pulling her down with him. Kira laughed and swung up ready for another round.  
"You have to do better than that", she said.  
Minutes passed as the two rangers sparred. Sometimes Conner won and sometimes Kira did. Finally, Kira lost balance as Conner swung her and she fell on her hands and knees. Conner put his hand out to help her up to standing. As they looked around they noticed most of Tommy's beginner martial arts class watching and clapping. Kira and Conner bowed to each other as if it were an official match instead of a stress relieving endeavor. Tommy ushered his class in to finish his lesson, having given the students a short water break, nudging certain students noting certain techniques that one of them used.  
Conner chuckled nervously. It had been a surprise to realize that everyone was watching them with so much interest.  
Kira handed him a water bottle. "Are you ready to talk now?" She asked.  
Conner groaned. It had been easy to forget his problems while they were fighting. "You're not going to stop until I do, are you?"  
"It isn't likely," Kira replied with a sympathetic smile. Although she knew it would be hard for Conner to talk about Krista, it would be better than holding in the negative emotions.  
Conner sighed and began, "Krista is engaged...and I didn't propose." Kira nodded silently, urging him to continue.  
"What did she say?" She asked.  
"It's the same old story. She sees me just as a jock," Conner replied frustrated.  
Incredulous, Kira searched his face to see if he was joking. He was not. "Boy, is she wrong," she finally replied. Conner turned his head.  
"What?"  
Kira scoffed and said, "You have a lot of passion. You could never be the red ranger without it."  
Conner shook his head and replied sarcastically, "Well it's not as if I could just tell her that I dress up in a spandex suit and save the world every other week."  
"You don't have to know you are a ranger to see that you have passion," Kira defended.  
"What, soccer?" Conner laughed sarcastically.  
"No," Kira said, "your passion is not soccer."  
Conner looked shocked. For years he had been known as the soccer jock, but suddenly his passion wasn't soccer?  
"A passion is something you want to do all the time, something that you pursue in spite of the odds, something that you won't let anyone or anything get in the way of," Kira said.  
Conner looked at her warily. He didn't expect to be talking about passion when they sat down together. He looked down at his hand, locked in her grasp. "Not soccer?" He asked a little confused. For years, Conner's identity had been wrapped up in his soccer abilities.  
"No," Kira answered as if it was the simplest concept to understand. "You decided that soccer was less important than other things years ago."  
Conner's mind jumped back to when Conner was forced to make a decision between being a ranger and playing soccer competitively. Conner had decided that the world's safety was more than soccer stardom.  
"Well, of course I chose to be a ranger. I still play soccer a lot," Conner defended. It felt strange that Conner was acting so defensive about his choice.  
Kira shook her head, "That's just it. Yes you chose in that moment to save the world, but after Mesagog was defeated, what did you do? You didn't join a league."  
Conner smiled at the memories flooding his mind, "I started planning the soccer camps. After all of the excitement and everything that we did for this town, playing in a soccer league just didn't feel right. Almost like a letdown."  
Kira placed her small hand on Conner's cheek gently forcing him to look straight in her face. "And that is exactly why your passion is not soccer. It is the kids. If your passion was soccer, Mesagog himself wouldn't have been able to keep you from playing soccer. Being a ranger awakened a big part of you that allows you to care about these kids."  
Conner still wasn't ready to give up, and defended, "It still is playing soccer."  
Kira replied, "Of course soccer is involved. You are really good at soccer, but soccer isn't the only thing you do with them. Think about all of the times you stayed late with the kids because their parents didn't show up? And when the kids started walking home, you followed them home to make sure they were safe."  
"Oh, you think I'm really good?" Conner asked with a grin.

Kira narrowed her eyes at Conner.  
Conner continued, "Those things you just said really don't matter."  
Kira sighed. Why was Conner so adamant that he wasn't good enough? "What about the times that cleats just happen to appear on kids' doorsteps, or bags of food." Kira grinned and commented, "Or the homework help? Conner, those things might not be big to you, but for those kids, it's huge."  
Conner laughed thinking of how he was so frantic trying to help Danny with algebra homework. "Kira, some of these kids don't get any help at home. I just want them to grow up happy and healthy."

"What are you staring at?"  
Tommy jumped half of a foot in the air. He turned to see Kimberly chuckling at him.  
Tommy tried to regain his composure and look nonchalant, but not before Kimberly peaked around him and saw Conner and Kira sitting close together.  
"Are you spying on them?" Kim scolded, hands on hip.  
"What? No!" Tommy defended, looking very guilty. "What do you think they are saying?"  
Kim glared at him and retorted, "I wouldn't know, I don't have supersonic hearing as a super power!"  
Tommy's eyes widened with an idea, "that's it! Superpower." Immediately, Tommy started turning invisible, but Kim used her talon-like nails to dig into Tommy's forearm holding him in place.  
"Don't you dare use your powers to spy on them?" Kim warned in a deadly whisper. If the tone was not enough to deter Tommy, the fire on her eyes definitely was.  
"Fine," Tommy relented. Kim released her grip and Tommy tenderly massaged the afflicted area. "Geeze," he whined with a pout.  
Kim scoffed, "Poor you. Tommy, you know you are acting like a father, watching a couple on the front porch. Face it, Oliver. You are getting old."  
"That's rich. At least I haven't turned thirty yet, unlike some people." Tommy was answered by a withering stare.  
Finally Kim asked, "How long have they," she nodded towards Conner and Kira, "been dating?" Kira was now reaching for Conner's face.  
Tommy was too distracted by the progression of the two rangers to answer Kimberly. It wasn't until Tommy felt a hard slap on the back of his head that Tommy finally looked away from Conner and Kira.  
"Hey!" Tommy complained. Kim repeated her question and Tommy answered, "They don't date. Conner's girlfriend should have arrived home today from the Amazon. That's weird, Conner told me he had a full day planned with her." Tommy's voice trailed off with unspoken thoughts.  
Kim said what Tommy was thinking. "I wonder what happened."

Conner and Kira had been sitting silently for a while when Conner asked, "Kira."  
"Mhmm," she replied.  
"How did you know all that stuff about me? It's not like I advertise it," Conner wondered.  
Kira smiled and turned and stared directly in Conner's eyes. "Conner, I see and hear the passion in you every day. The minute those kids show up, you brighten up and are immediately invigorated. I hear you talk about them and I hear the energy in your voice." She paused and grinned. "I don't think you realize that you do it, but your voice changes when you're with them, or even just talking about your kids. It's like you have so much to say and so you have to speak faster to keep up with your brain. Anyone who is really listening can hear the passion dripping off your tongue."  
She paused and continued, "Conner, you don't just have passion. Krista is an idiot for leaving you like that. Conner, you don't see it like others do. You are a good man." Conner started shaking his head. "Stop, Conner. You are the best man I know. I trust you with my life."  
"Kira," Conner started, but Kira interrupted him again.  
"No Conner," she said. She stopped and the world seemed to become silent. She put her hands on his forearms. "Conner, I trust you with my life. Not because you are a ranger or because of your physical strength or anything like that. I trust you because you are the best man I know. You are honest, brave, kind, caring and trustworthy. Conner in every relationship you have, you are always all in. With the kids, the rangers, with me. You are always there. Krista is the one who messed up. She broke the relationship, not you." She held his gaze, trying to communicate that she was not just making this up.  
Hearing her cell phone ring, Kira broke eye contact and fished the phone out of her bag. "I have Emma coming in for her piano lesson soon. I should go. Are you ok?" she asked.  
Conner sat up and replied, "Definitely, thanks for listening, and for what you said. "He stood to walk in with her. "How are those lessons coming along anyway?"  
Kira smiled widely and answered, "They are great! You know, I think Emma is ready to start playing some real music, not just the practice exercises."  
Amused, Conner accused, "I think someone else has some passion for the kids."  
"I think I might," Kira replied in a light tone. "I'll see you later."  
The two parted ways but as Kira walked into the rec center, she was startled by Tommy jumping back from the window.  
Tommy ran out of the building chasing after Conner.  
Kira rose her eyebrows. "Do I even want to know?" Kira asked with question in her voice.  
Kim laughed and replied, "No, I don't think you do."  
As usual, Trixie was spying on the rangers. "Poor Conner lost his girlfriend," she said in a phony sympathetic voice. She turned to Domino who was reading at the desk. "Domino, I just feel so horrible that Conny-poo is sad. We should send him a present."  
Domino looked up with a sinister smile. "I think we should, sis. It would be a shame if we didn't send our consolation to him." He sat up and observed the screen that showed Tommy catching up with Conner.  
Trixie jumped and Domino heard her shoes click across the floor to the far wall where her sketch pad lay. "What kind of monster shall we send? An archer, perhaps? I'm sure he feels as though he was shot in the heart," she asked much too cheery for the circumstances.  
Silent, Domino laced his long black fingers together pressed them to his lips in thought and loftily said, "Peace, sister. I believe we need a more delicate plan."  
"What?" she shrieked. "I thought you said we were going to send a monster!"  
Domino rubbed his temple in irritation of her high voice. "We will, don't worry. However, I would ask you, why have these power brats won every time?" he asked in a smooth voice.  
For once, Trixie looked unsure. "I don't know? They are pathetic little humans. Look at those feelings. These feelings make them weak. Why do they bother to find a mate they are attached to when that mate just betrays them? It's like they need to be together."  
Domino looked up suddenly shocked. "Why Trixie, you just figured it out!" He leaned forward toward Trixie and invited her to sit across from him.  
Sitting, Trixie asked, "Of course I did!" After a pause, she continued, "What did I say?"  
"You just said that the weakness in humans is their need for others. If we could just isolate one ranger on his own, we could bring them down one at a time." Domino smiled.  
Trixie's eyebrows crinkled in confusion, "How are we going to do that? Even if they aren't together, they have those communicators."  
Domino was silent for a moment watching the screen where Tommy was talking to Conner. "What were they talking about?" he asked. He took a remote and rewound until the conversation had just began.  
Tommy put his hand on Conner's shoulder. "I'm guessing that your reunion with Krista didn't go well."  
"Not exactly." Conner said evasively. "Look, Dr. O. I appreciate you coming out to talk to me, but I'm a little talked-out. Kira was really helpful and great, but I really just want to forget what happened."  
Tommy gave a weak smile and replied, "Believe me, I get what you are saying. Actually I wanted to tell you about this meeting I was invited to."  
"Dr. O, I really don't want to hear about a bunch of dusty dino freaks." Conner replied.

Tommy's eyebrows rose and he replied wryly, "Well, I will let Jason and Rocky know you aren't interested in meeting the other rangers."  
Conner snapped his head towards Tommy, his mouth open wide. "What!?" He gasped.  
Tommy chuckled and answered his question. "Well, I won't force you to come, but every year, we have a little get together and discuss the state of the planet. Get to know the new team of rangers and make arrangements in case things get out of hand."  
"I get to meet a group of red rangers!" Conner asked excitedly. He jumped up to his feet.  
"Well, it isn't just red rangers. We have some pinks and blues to fill out the group. To make things a little more balanced," Tommy replied suppressing a grin. He looked forward to this meeting every year. "If you are interested, we leave in the morning." As Tommy walked away, Conner punched the air victoriously.

The next morning the rangers met at Tommy' jeep to send off Conner and Tommy. Conner slung his duffle bag into the back of the jeep and grinned. Tommy was all business, giving directions and warnings.  
"Now I expect you all to train tomorrow today, even if I'm not here. I left a workout on my desk," he ordered.  
Kim scoffed, "Relax Tommy, I am more than capable of whipping these 'power punks' into rangers, even with your wimpy workout. Now go before I drive you myself."  
"Fine," Tommy relented with a sigh. "Please keep a watch on the city. The enemy likes to strike when one or more ranger is out of town"  
Kim rolled her eyes playfully and replied, "Honestly, Tommy you are acting like this is my first time at the rodeo. I know what to do."  
"And so do I," Hayley added in. "We have everything handled. There are no lessons today at the rec center and there will always be someone at the monitor. Now go!" She made shooing motions with her hands.  
"Fine," Tommy said. "Ready, Conner?" Conner nodded and stepped forward to offer up hugs and high fives to the rest of the team. To Kira he said, "I know you'll keep the city safe." Sweeping his gaze to the rest of the rangers he said, "Especially when you work together." Conner climbed into the car and left.

"And now," Domino stated, "Is when we carry out the plan." Domino sat in his captain's chair looking out at the viewing screen. He saw the rangers from various points of view, including a close up of Conner as well as the other rangers walking back to the rec center. He increased the volume to hear their conversation.  
"Well," Kira said. "Now that they are gone, we probably should start our training." Her excitement level was less than stellar.  
Ethan cut in, "Actually, I was thinking we could have a day off? I have this deadline for work and I really can't miss another deadline."  
Trent nodded and joined in saying, "Yeah, I have a meeting with someone this morning. It is really important. Can we come back this afternoon?"  
Kim narrowed her eyes at the blue and white rangers. "Back at noon, or you won't live to reap the consequences." The look on her face left no room for argument. The boys gulped and nodded.

"Now?" Trixie asked. Trixie and Domino stood side by side observing the events below.  
Domino grinned and nodded. "Excellent, the yellow ranger is isolated. Release the bug." Trixie pressed a small button and 4 small metal lady bugs crawled out of a slot in the machine. She tenderly picked one up on her finger.  
"Hey little one, are you going to block the puny ranger's signals. Are you going to make that Kira fight alone? What a good little computer bug! Let's let her die." As if on a signal the bugs took flight sailing towards the earth. Looking to the monitor she saw each bug wiggle inside the rangers morphers. She looked to Domino, "And now, brother. Let's make a monster."

After the boys made a hasty exit, it was just Kira and Kim. Putting her arm around Kira's shoulder, Kim asked, "What shall we do?"  
Kira shrugged and then smiled. "I know, we should clean up the lab. Dr. O is such a pack rat. I can never find anything in there."  
Kim replied, "Tommy never was organized in high school." She paused and replied, "Let's do it."  
A half hour later, the girls were laughing at a photo of Tommy from when he was aged backwards the first time. Tommy's young face scowled at Kira as she giggled. "Look at those chubby cheeks!"  
Kim rolled her eyes and confided to the young ranger, "He was so cute when that happened to him. He hated it, though. Tommy has always hated feeling powerless. That is probably why he is so connected to the Power." Kim looked at the photo for another second with a wistful smile before she placed the photo in the keep pile.  
Next, Kim picked up a small wooden box. Opening it, she found Tommy's green power coin.  
Kira looked at the coin and then at Kim. "Do you miss it?"  
Before Kim could answer, alarms sounded in the lair. Kim and Kira ran to the monitors. There was a sea serpent destroying the buildings around the coast. Civilians fled from the beach screaming. Kira clenched her fists and brought her morpher up to her chest and cried out, "Dino Thunder, Power Up!" Immediately, her jeans and yellow tank top were replaced by a yellow spandex suit with white diamonds running up the sides. Her long strawberry blond hair was drawn up into a helmet.  
Her light tone disappeared and instead took on a determined voice.  
"I will distract the monster and get the town people out of the way. Get Ethan and Trent." Kim nodded in reply and Kira dashed off to the side and climbed on her raptor rider. She quickly disappeared towards the beach.  
Immediately, Kim went into action, sitting down at the command center. She thought back to the training Hailey had given her about the machines. She found and pressed the contact button that would connect with the Blue and White rangers. After hearing only static, she tried again. And again. Still there was no answer. She pulled out her cell phone and used speed dial to call the boys. Ethan's went straight to voice mail and Kim heard Trent's phone ring on the back table. She swore softly under her breath and mumbled, "Stupid boy forgot his phone." She quickly tried to connect with Kira and thankfully she was answered from a tired sounding Kira.  
"Did you get a hold of the others yet? I wouldn't mind some company."  
Kim replied, "I'm trying but there is no answer. Do you want me to get a hold of Tommy and Conner?"  
"No," Kira said. "They are probably just getting to Angel Grove Now. They don't need to turn around especially if I will have this taken care of soon. Just try to get a hold of Trent and Ethan."  
Uneasily, Kim agreed. Privately, however, she had a bad feeling about letting Kira fight alone. Immediately she began contacting the absentee rangers.

Several miles away, Conner and Tommy were indeed just entering Angel Grove Youth Center. Conner eyes seemed to revolve in his head as he took in the sights. There were color coded adults everywhere. The majority of the adults wore red on one or more articles of clothing, while many other wore blue. There were also several pink outfits and yellow. One or two former rangers resembled Tommy in that they wore a variety of colors. Tommy was wearing dark green gym pants, a white t shirt, as well as black and red shoes, representing every color he had worn as a ranger.  
At that moment, another ranger with two colors came up to Tommy and fixed a stern look, hands on hips, upon the veteran ranger.

When Tommy looked up and saw the harsh ranger, he only grinned and wrapped his arm around the other man.  
"Hey Bro!" Tommy exclaimed.  
"Bro?" Conner said with a confused look on his face. These two men looked almost nothing alike. Where Tommy had tan skin and brown hair, this man had black hair with a pale face.  
'Bro' looked at Conner with amusement in his eyes. Any indication of anger fled from his face.  
"Conner McKnight," Tommy said, addressing the younger ranger. "I would like to introduce you to Jason Lee Scott, the original red ranger." Jason held out his hand for a handshake.  
Conner merely looked at Jason's outstretched hand with disbelief. Could it really be that THE Tyrannosaurus Rex ranger was going to shake his hand?  
Laughing, Jason withdrew his hand and slapped him on the back. Conner felt the power in the man through the slap on the back. "Conner, welcome to the red ranger family. In this club, we are conceited, easily angered, and over confident. Welcome!"  
In spite of the awe that Conner felt, he let out a hearty laugh. "Is that so? I am often told by Kira, our yellow ranger that I am many of those things. She also adds pig-headed."  
Finally, Conner slapped Jason's outstretched hand. Jason chuckled. For the moment, Conner's thoughts were turned away from Reefside and on the former rangers.

At the far off planet, Trixie and Domino were mocking the solitary yellow ranger as she struggled to fight off several Blekkies along with General Mayhem and the sea monster. Frantic, she aimed a kick at Mayhem, punches at the blekkies, all while firing her ray gun at the sea monster. Unfortunately for Kira, she missed every single target.

"At last, Domino," Trixie cried in jubilee. "It's time to finish her off-" Trixie was interrupted by a sharp cry. Mayhem and the Blekkies fell away as Kira let out her ptera scream. Disgusted, Trixie yelled, "Domino, this is all your fault!"

"My fault!" Her brother replied, "How is this my fault?"  
"It just is!"

Kira swung around and knocked out the last Blekkie to see General Mayhem strolling over to her. She immediately took a defensive stance and studied her new opponent. Indeed the cyborg looked intimidating as he leered at her through metal shades. She had no idea what kind of weapons he had.  
Surreptitiously, Kira brought her communicator up to her lips and whispered, "Do you have any info on this guy?"

After a moment, Kim replied, "I do have info, but you aren't going to like it. Mayhem is one of the top generals in Casecordia's army. Before he was a cyborg, he was a top gladiator. Then he was injured and changed into what he is now. There is no information about his weaknesses or weapons."  
"Great," groaned Kira.  
Kira was soon taught firsthand about Mayhem's weapons. Mayhem brought his arm and took aim at the yellow ranger. Kira begged her legs to move but she remained fixed as a target of an unknown attack. With a burst of light, Kira felt the impact of a powerful ray and fell to the ground as she demorphed.

Conner flinched and looked around suddenly and accidentally dumped over his glass of water. He grimaced seeing that he had dumped water on his and Tommy's communicators. He quickly wiped them clean. Of course the material was more than waterproof, but he hated to abuse them. Conner shook his head trying to figure out what was wrong. There was a lump in is stomach that wouldn't go away. He looked over at Tommy and saw that there was no change in his expression; he barely noticed that he was wet. Although Dr. O was serious, it was clear that he was overjoyed to be with some of his best friends. On one side was Jason, and on the other Adam Park. Dr. O didn't seem worried, but Conner couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

Shaking his head, he reassured himself that if something was wrong, Kira or the others would have reached out by now.

Groaning, Kira sat up and saw Mayhem leering down at her from behind his silvery shades.  
"The yellow ranger is not worth my time. I will let the sea monster dispose of you." With that, Mayhem disappeared. The sea monster, however, roared in reply and slashed its tail at Kira.  
Kira quickly shuffled on all fours away from the sea monster. Hearing her communicator let out its familiar tone, Kira asked, "Do you have any news?"  
"Still no reply from the others. I am going to call Conner and Tommy-"  
Kira had the wind knocked out of her as the monster tail came down on her again. She gasped at the sound of broken ribs.  
Shakily, Kira stood and silently called for her yellow pterodactyl. She sighed in relief as she heard the comforting reply of the yellow zord. She jumped up into the soft leather seat of her pterodactyl vehicle. She pressed several buttons to gain the upper hand. The sea monster recoiled in pain. Kira searched to see where she hit the monster to find its weak point. She could have cheered when she found a line down its back, like a seam where she had hit the thirty foot sea eel.  
BAM! Kira realized too late that she spent too much time looking for the monster's weak spot. His tail had slammed right into the pterodactyl zord. She heard the crunch of metal.  
"Alright, time to finish this fight," Kira muttered. "Before anything else happens." She slammed down the button to attack the monster again, but nothing happened.  
Kim's voice filled the zord and said, "That last attack from the monster jammed the weaponry. You need to come back."  
"No!" Kira cried. "I can't leave Reefside defenseless." She flew the zord up quickly to get a moment to think.  
"This is not a good idea. You could get hurt." Kim pleaded.  
"That doesn't matter as long as I save the city." Kira defended.

Conner heard Tommy's communicator go off. "Instantly he heard the sound of metal crunching and screams fill the air. "Kira!" Kim cried. Conner turned white with fear. Without realizing he stood and pushed away from the table. Then he started running. Ignoring the car, for it would have taken far too long, he went into super speed mode. Automatically, he maneuvered around trees and over rocks in the forest. All that mattered was getting to Kira. Conner didn't even notice when his shoes fell off his feet. Instead the hard ground pushed into his skin without his notice.  
Along the way he heard updates from Kim. Apparently Kira was facing off against a sea monster alone. The thought made his blood boil. Why in the world were Trent and Ethan?  
However, all of these thoughts were completely secondary. With every step and every leap, Conner heard the sound of Kira's musical voice saying, "I trust you with my life." Pushing onward, going even faster, he tried to erase the voice, but it only got louder, as well as the doubts creeping into his. Why wasn't Conner there? Why was Kira fighting alone?

Once again Domino roared in consternation. "Why did you not send those bugs to block their signal?" He stomped up to where Mayhem and Trixie sat looking angry and worried.

"I did," cried Trixie. "I don't know why the bugs in the red and black rangers didn't work right."

Domino snarled in response, "Just get out of here. Maybe something will actually be accomplished."

Finally the beach and the monster were in view. He stepped onto the beach just in time to see the Pterodactyl zord crashing into the sea monster. With a cry of pain, the monster sank into the sea and did not return. But in response, the ptera zord started hurtling towards the sea and Conner could just see a glimpse of Kira's lifeless body coming down towards the water. Despite how fast Conner could run and how much he begged his feet to move, he was glued to his spot. Only when he heard the splash of her body submerging into the water, did he spring back into action.  
He ran and used his relatively recently acquired swimming skills to dive into the water and he began searching. Once he ran out of air, he returned to the surface gulped another breath and went back down. He did this two or three more times each time not seeing the yellow ranger. Finally he saw her, pale and bruised with red hair floating around her. He swam down a little more, feeling his ears pop with pressure, grabbed her around the arm pits and swam up to the surface.

As he got closer to the shore, he saw Rocky, the second red ranger and Chad from Light speed Rescue climb off of the red raptor cycle. They rushed out and took Kira from him, each putting one arm around her to support her. Conner slowly stumbled towards the small group of former rangers surrounding Kira. Rocky began listening for any sign of life. Seeing none, he nodded to Chad, who started CPR. Conner focused in on Kira's every forced movement. He inwardly begged her to sit up, speak, or even breathe. His heart seemed to jump inside of him with every chest compression. In all of this, Tommy drove up on is raptor rider with a blond woman in pink. She joined in with the two other men. Tommy joined Conner kneeled down besides Kira waiting. After what seemed like a lifetime, Chad smiled and stopped the chest compressions. He had found a pulse. Hurriedly, the three worked together to put Kira onto a stretcher and into a waiting ambulance. Urging his feet forward again, he followed close by the stretcher. Kira's half dried hair seemed so dark against the deathly pale pallor of her cheeks. The only sign of life was the weak pulse he felt in her wrist as he held her hand. Thankfully, no one dared to argue as he stepped into the ambulance with the paramedic and Chad. In the close quarters of the ambulance, it was hard to be ignored by the other passengers. The woman looked up at Conner from where she was holding an oxygen mask over Kira's face.

"You should get checked out," she said quietly.

Conner shook his head. "No," he replied. "Take care of her."

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "You reds are all the same. You would deny you were hurt to the end, especially when someone you care about is hurt."

"Does she look bad off?" Conner asked.

"I will look at her closer when we get to the hospital. The sooner she wakes up, the better I expect. I'm Dana Carter. I was the pink Light speed Rescue ranger."

Conner failed to look impressed. He didn't care about her ranger history right now. Zordon could have appeared on the wall right now, and he would not have cared.

Dana continued with her evaluation. "I think she will be ok. The morphing grid usually helps rangers heal faster. This is a bad injury, though. I can already feel broken ribs and I see burns all over her. I will have to see how much sea water she swallowed. But despite all of that, I believe she will be alright." She gave him a little smile. "Now, please, let us check you out." Conner sighed and allowed Chad to look after him.

As Trent exited an office building in downtown Reefside, he looked down at his watch. He gasped seeing that it was already a quarter past noon. "Kim is going to kill me!" He got into his car and started off towards the recreation center. At the door, he saw Ethan. "What's going on?" he called to Ethan.

"I was waiting for you." Ethan replied. "There is no way I was going in late alone. Maybe together we will have a sporting chance."

Trent laughed, "Please, Kim is going to hand both of us our butts for being late. Tommy is even scared of her."

Ethan paused, then asked, "How bad do you think it is going to be?"

"I don't think I'm the one you should be worrying about right now." Trent and Ethan froze recognizing Kimberly's clipped voice. They turned around wearing guilty faces.

Kim looked furious, but there was more to the expression than anger. She stood there with her arms folded across her chest.

Trent was braver than Ethan. "Kim, I'm sorry we were late. It took longer than I thought to finish the job."

"Where were you?" Kim shrieked hysterically.

Ethan started, "Like Trent said, things took longer than we thought. We lost track of time."

"We will stay late to make up for it." Trent attempted to appease the livid ex ranger.

"Why the heck didn't you answer your communicator?" She demanded. She refused to be swayed.

"Nobody called that we should answer." Ethan defended.

Kim looked angry, but a little unsure now. "I tried several times to get in touch with you. Neither of you buffoons bothered to answer."

The two rangers answered at the same time. "What happened?" "How could that be?"

Kim paused and her anger broke down. "Kira had to fight a monster alone. Mayhem was there, and a sea monster. Nobody was there to help her. She-" Kimberly stopped.

Trent's eyes widened. "She's ok isn't she? She beat them right?"

Kim only responded with, "We need to get to the hospital, soon."

Domino stood and observed the red ranger staring at the ptera ranger, willing her to move. Domino smiled as he looked at her vital signs. "Very weak," he murmured with a small content smile. "Perhaps it is time that I introduce myself."  
He searched around the well-lit room. Below the screen was a patchwork of colored lights and buttons. He quickly typed in a set of coordinates and flipped a lever. He felt himself dematerialize into the air and then saw the same hospital room from before form around him.  
Conner snapped his head up seeing Domino in front of him.  
"Who are you?" The red ranger demanded in an angry tone.  
Domino straightened up regally and announced, "I am the crowned prince Domino of Casecordia. My sister and I have been sending some," he paused considering his words, "friendly visitors to your planet. I'm afraid you really haven't been too welcoming to royalty. Normally my subjects bow before a prince."  
Conner sneered and replied, "Not even if you broke both my legs."  
Domino took on a pitying tone. "Oh dear," he mocked. "That would be unfortunate." He walked over and stood by Kira, lightly touching the tubes giving her oxygen. "I saw what happened to poor Kira. It really is a shame. She really is a sweet girl." He looked over at Conner with a challenging glance. "She isn't doing so well is she? Perhaps it would be better to let her go nice and easy."  
Conner's face darkened and warned, "If you so much as touch her, I swear you won't be alive to regret it."  
Domino's hand closed over the oxygen tube.  
Conner pounced and slammed him up against the wall. The door burst open and Dana, Tommy, Trent, and Ethan ran in.  
"What is that?" Ethan asked appalled.  
"You better stay away from her!" Conner shouted. His elbow dug into Domino's black viney neck. If it would have been a human, Conner would have been cutting off air supply. However, Domino was not human, so he only felt mild discomfort.  
Domino laughed, "Such a temper you have. You think you're so tough, but you have no idea who you are up against. You are barely past boyhood. What are you doing in a man's fight?" Conner gritted his teeth and dug harder into Domino's windpipe. Domino did nothing but smile coolly with a steel glint in his eye.  
Tommy stepped forward and put his hand on Conner's shoulder. "Now isn't the time, Conner. You'll have your chance."  
Reluctantly, Conner stepped back and released the prince of Casecordia. Domino stood up straight and dusted off his tan leather tunic. He fixed Conner with a challenging glare. He took one slow step after another towards Conner and taunted, "I believe I am going to enjoy defeating you. Now, I don't want to just kill you. I want to destroy you inside and out. I think I will force you to watch me kill her." He gestured to Kira. "Not now, of course. It wouldn't be nearly as fun. No, I think I will wait so you can see her begging for her life, writhing in pain. Now that moment will be sweet." Domino's voice trailed off into eerie silence.  
If Conner was angry before, now he was full of wrath. He ran at Domino, unsure if he was going to choke him, bite him, or tear him limb from limb.  
Chuckling, Domino's voice rang out, "Next time, Red Ranger," and dematerialized right as Conner would have leapt upon him. Instead Conner slammed his arm into the hospital wall, leaving a huge dent.  
"Why didn't I stop him right there!?" Conner raged. "This fight could have been over right here and now."

Tommy took on his teacher tone. "Conner, Domino was right about something. You let your anger cloud your judgement. You didn't see that he was holding back. Domino was teasing and goading you. We have no idea what kind of power he has."

Conner ran his fingers through his hair and slid down the wall until his knees were next to his chest. "Why wasn't I there for her? I had to sit and listen as she defeated the monster on her own. And now? I just let Domino threaten her and could do nothing." He looked up at Ethan and Trent. "Why was she fighting alone? We are a team. No one should fight alone."

Ethan and Trent looked at each other and then at Conner. "We didn't know, man!" Ethan defended.

Trent continued in a pained voice, "If we would have known, we would have been there in a second."

Kim interjected, "How didn't you know? I called you several times."

Hayley, who had silently joined during the 'discussion 'between Conner and Domino, said, "Give me your communicators."  
Without arguing, the white and blue rangers handed over their communicators.  
Hayley examined the communicators for a moment and sighed. She picked up a small chip and showed it to the boys. "This interfered with your communicators." She looked at Conner. "They really didn't know, Conner."  
Conner didn't look comforted but he did pick himself up off the ground. "I'm sorry, guys. I know it's not your fault. I just-" Conner broke off looked away distractedly.

Tommy asked, "I wonder why ours worked but theirs didn't." HE looked like the scientist he was as he thought.

Hayley probed further, "Did anything happen to your communicators at the meeting? Something that might have interfered with the bug?" She looked hopefully at Tommy and Conner.

Conner merely shrugged, but Tommy replied, "Conner, you dumped the water and it hit our communicators. I bet the bug didn't like that."

Nobody decided to continue that conversation.  
Conner's scattered thoughts were interrupted as Kira began to stir.

"Look," Dana said. "I think it would be best if we let Kira rest in peace for a while. Why don't you tell her goodnight and go home. "I will call you when something changes." The rangers nodded.

Ethan patted Kira on the arm and apologized for not helping. Tommy gave Kira a fatherly kiss on the forehead and left with Hayley, leaving Conner alone with Kira and Trent.

Exhausted, Conner sank back into the hard chair by Kira's bed. He leaned forward close to Kira's face and spoke in a soft voice. "Hey Rock star. You have to wake up. We are all waiting for you. We all need you"

As if in a trance, Kira mumbled, "Thank you," and fell back into unconsciousness. Both men looked troubled.

"I hate seeing her like this," Trent said.

Conner nodded. He would do anything to have her get up and sing or play, even to mock him. "I'm sorry I was so hard on you. This can't be easy for you. I know how much she means to you." Trent was startled. Didn't Conner realize that the two of them were not together anymore? "You know how lucky you are right? Kira is awesome. She really helped me yesterday. She just won't give up on us. Look at what she did here. She could have run, but she wanted the city to be safe."

Trent looked down at Kira. Despite being bruised and battered, she was still beautiful. A familiar ache filled his chest.

"Yeah," Trent replied huskily. "I'll never take her for granted again." She deserves more, he thought. He would be more. He would never let her down again.

Author's note: I apologize for the wait again. I had the major plot points planned, but it took a while to connect everything together. It looks like Trent is going to try to win Kira back again.


End file.
